Related Risk Factors for Pelvic Floor Disorders in Postpartum Women: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Objectives: Pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) during pregnancy and after delivery, and related risk factors are still debatable topics for research. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess the probable risk factors associated with PFDs in Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in two state and private hospitals in Tabriz, Iran from the 1st of June to the 31st of August, 2018. The participants were 650 postpartum women, aged between 15 and 47 years six months after delivery. The type of delivery, type of hospital, history of episiotomy and induction, anesthesia, multiparity, the mother’s birth age, the infant’s weight and head circumference, the mother’s weight gain during pregnancy, and a wide variety of probably related risk factors were studied based on the study objective. According to their answer to the questions of PFDs, 147 women responded yes and completed the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-20 questionnaire. Results: Between the investigated risk factors, type of the hospital (OR: 0.27, CI: 0.126-0.564) and the amount of the mother’s weight gain during pregnancy (OR: 1.066, CI: 1.024-1.109) were significantly associated with PFDs. Finally, the number of PFDs and severity of dysfunctions according to PFDI-20 were higher in state hospitals, and excessive weight gain of the mother during pregnancy was related to the higher incidence of PFDs. Conclusions: Type of the hospital and the mother’s weight gain during pregnancy are the only two related risk factors in this study. This study was the first one to discuss the type of the hospital in such related risk factor studies. Accordingly, it is predictable that better supervision of medical attends in state hospitals is highly important for decreasing the rate of PFDs after delivery.

Magnitude of Symptomatic Pelvic Floor Dysfunction and Associated Factors Amongst Women in Western Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…34 In the our study, more than 50% of the women were rural residents, and most of them do heavy labor work, such as woodworking, Carrying heavy objects from house to market and from market to house, which square measure nerve-wracking activities. 35 In our study, mothers who had 5 or more vaginal child birth were 4 times more likely to have PFD than those who did not have vaginal deliveries. This compares to a study done in the Gurage Zone which showed that repeated vaginal deliveries vaginal deliveries were associated with PFD linked to 4 or fewer vaginal deliveries.…”

“… 34 In the our study, more than 50% of the women were rural residents, and most of them do heavy labor work, such as woodworking, Carrying heavy objects from house to market and from market to house, which square measure nerve-wracking activities. 35 …”