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Park, Kang, Jang, and Kim: Effect of Kegel Exercise to Prevent Urinary and Fecal Incontinence in Antenatal and Postnatal Women: Systematic Review
Original Article

Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing 2013; 43(3): 420-430.

Published online: 28 June 2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2013.43.3.420

Effect of Kegel Exercise to Prevent Urinary and Fecal Incontinence in Antenatal and Postnatal Women: Systematic Review

Seong-Hi Park1, Chang-Bum Kang2, Seon Young Jang3, Bo Yeon Kim4

1School of Nursing, Pai Chai University, Daejeon, Korea.

2Research Development Team, Korea Health Promotion Foundation, Seoul, Korea.

3Office of Quality Improvement, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University Health System, Seoul, Korea.

4Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, Seoul, Korea.

Address reprint requests to: Park, Seong-Hi. School of Nursing, Pai Chai University, 155-40, Baejae-ro, Seo-gu, Daejeon 302-735, Korea. Tel: +82-42-520-5104, Fax: +82-70-4362-6291, shpark@pcu.ac.kr

Received 23 January 2013       Accepted 17 May 2013

© 2013 Korean Society of Nursing Science

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to review the literature to determine whether intensive pelvic floor muscle training during pregnancy and after delivery could prevent urinary and fecal incontinence.

Methods

Randomized controlled trials (RCT) of low-risk obstetric populations who had done Kegel exercise during pregnancy and after delivery met the inclusion criteria. Articles published between 1966 and 2012 from periodicals indexed in Ovid Medline, Embase, Scopus, KoreaMed, NDSL and other databases were selected, using the following keywords: 'Kegel, pelvic floor exercise'. The Cochrane's Risk of Bias was applied to assess the internal validity of the RCT. Fourteen selected studies were analyzed by meta-analysis using RevMan 5.1.

Results

Fourteen RCTs with high methodological quality, involving 6,454 women were included. They indicated that Kegel exercise significantly reduced the development of urinary and fecal incontinence from pregnancy to postpartum. Also, there was low clinical heterogeneity.

Conclusion

There is some evidence that for antenatal and postnatal women, Kegel exercise can prevent urinary and fecal incontinence. Therefore, a priority task is to develop standardized Kegel exercise programs for Korean pregnant and postpartum women and make efficient use of these programs.

Keywords: Urinary incontinence, Fecal incontinence, Meta-analysis, Pelvic floor muscle training

Figures and Tables

Figure 1
Flow diagram of article selection.
jkan-43-420-g001
Figure 2
Comparison outcomes of Kegel exercise versus control.
jkan-43-420-g002
Table 1
Characteristics of Selected Studies
jkan-43-420-i001

Exp.=Experimental group; Cont.=Control group; UI=Urinary incontinence; FI=Fecal incontince; Y=Yes; Others 1=Pad test; Others 2=Pelvic floor muscle strength.

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