Effect of Pelvic Floor and Hip Muscle Strengthening in the Treatment of Stress Urinary Incontinence

INTRODUCTION: Stress urinary incontinence is a common condition in women and can be defined as the involuntary loss of urine on exertion, exercise, sneezing or coughing. This pathology causes physical discomfort and impacts the quality of life in a negative manner. Physiotherapeutic exercises is a treatment with low cost and high patient attendance. It can be applied with focus on strengthening the pelvic floor muscles or on muscular synergism. OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of Kegel exercises performed alone or performed in association with the strengthening of the muscles of the hip in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence. METHODOLOGY: The study is a randomized, blinded clinical trial. It aims at assessing objectively the strength of the pelvic floor, the improvement in the number of episodes of loss and impact on quality of life. The study will accept up to 40 women, who will be divided into two groups of physical therapy: group 1 (that will strengthen the pelvic floor muscles with Kegel exercises) and group 2 (that will perform strengthening the pelvic floor muscles with Kegel exercises associated with the strengthening of muscles of the hip). The two groups will be evaluated at the beginning and at the end of treatment.