Effects of Pelvic Floor Rehab Protocol on Urinary Incontinence

July 17, 2026 updated by: Riphah International University

Effects of Pregnancy Specific Pelvic Floor Rehab Protocol on Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence is a serious health issue that deeply affects a person's daily life and overall well-being. The global prevalence of UI is between 5 to 69% during a woman's lifetime, with higher prevalence in older age groups. The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to compare the effects of pregnancy specific pelvic floor rehab protocol with the standard protocol on urinary incontinence. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the two groups. The results of this trial would be helpful in this way that how Pregnancy specific pelvic floor rehab protocol can provide support for pregnant ladies with urinary incontinence and improve health outcomes.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The International Continence Society defines urinary incontinence as the 'unintentional or involuntary leakage of urine'. Urinary incontinence is a serious health issue that deeply affects a person's daily life and overall well-being. It can be physically exhausting and emotionally overwhelming, often leading to embarrassment, loss of confidence, and feelings of helplessness. Many people dealing with it also struggle with anxiety and depression, as it limits their freedom and makes even simple daily tasks feel challenging. Urinary incontinence (UI) is common during pregnancy with prevalence rates of 31% in nulliparous women and 42% in parous women. The global prevalence of UI is between 5 to 69% during a woman's lifetime, with higher prevalence in older age groups. . Urinary incontinence during pregnancy affects women's physical comfort, emotional well-being, and quality of life, yet it remains under-identified and undertreated in standard antenatal care. Although pelvic floor exercises are widely recommended, most existing programs are not adapted to the unique demands of pregnancy. A structured, pregnancy-specific pelvic floor rehabilitation protocol can address these needs more effectively by offering trimester-based guidance, functional training, and education. . This pregnancy-specific pelvic floor rehabilitation protocol follows a progressive 4-week plan focused on pelvic floor muscle training, core activation, and functional strengthening. Exercises such as Kegels, abdominal drawing-in, bridging, and clamshells are performed in various positions with controlled breathing. Each 30-minute session, conducted twice weekly, includes a structured warm-up, weekly targeted exercises (Week 1-4), and a cool-down phase for relaxation, flexibility, and bladder/postural education. Participants will be randomly assigned through convenient sampling method to each groups. Ethical considerations will be completely taken and data will be analyzed through SPSS version 26. This study aims to evaluate the impact of such a protocol and provide evidence to support its integration into routine prenatal care, potentially improving maternal outcomes and long-term recovery.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
48

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Pakistan
    • Islamabad
      • Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan, 44000
        • Riphah International Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant women aged 18-35 yrs.
  • Score ≥1 on stress or urge subscale of the Questionnaire for Incontinence Diagnosis
  • No participation in a structured pelvic floor rehabilitation program within the last six months.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • • Patients with High-risk pregnancy.

    • Known neurological disorders.
    • History of pelvic surgery.
    • ACOG Contraindications for Exercise

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: Standard Pelvic floor Rehab Protocol Group
This group receives standard protocol for strengthening of pelvic floor to prevent urinary incontinence.
Other: Standard Protocol for Pelvic floor strengthening
in this group, standard exercises used for strengthening of pelvic floor to prevent urinary incontinence will be implemented.
Experimental: Pregnancy Specific Pelvic floor Rehab Protocol (PSPFR) Group (2nd Trimester)
This group will receive a pregnancy-specific supervised pelvic floor rehabilitation protocol and basic antenatal education. There will be 2 sessions per week for 4 weeks. Each 30-minute session, conducted twice weekly, includes a structured warm-up, weekly targeted exercises (Week 1-4), and a cool-down phase for relaxation, flexibility, and bladder/postural education.
Other: Pregnancy Specific Pelvic floor rehab protocol (PSPFR) Group
This pregnancy-specific pelvic floor rehabilitation protocol follows a progressive 4-week plan focused on pelvic floor muscle training, core activation, and functional strengthening. Exercises such as Kegels, abdominal drawing-in, bridging, and clamshells are performed in various positions with controlled breathing. Each 30-minute session, conducted twice weekly, includes a structured warm-up, weekly targeted exercises (Week 1-4), and a cool-down phase for relaxation, flexibility, and bladder/postural education. The instructions of the supervised exercises would be Hold for 2 s in 3 repetitions, 5 seconds rest, 1 minute of rest between each exercise & 2 sets each. The record of each session will be written in diaries.
Experimental: Pregnancy Specific Pelvic floor Rehab Protocol (PSPFR) Group (3rd Trimester)
This group will receive a pregnancy-specific supervised pelvic floor rehabilitation protocol and basic antenatal education. There will be 2 sessions per week for 4 weeks. Each 30-minute session, conducted twice weekly, includes a structured warm-up, weekly targeted exercises (Week 1-4), and a cool-down phase for relaxation, flexibility, and bladder/postural education.
Other: Pregnancy Specific Pelvic floor rehab protocol (PSPFR) Group
This pregnancy-specific pelvic floor rehabilitation protocol follows a progressive 4-week plan focused on pelvic floor muscle training, core activation, and functional strengthening. Exercises such as Kegels, abdominal drawing-in, bridging, and clamshells are performed in various positions with controlled breathing. Each 30-minute session, conducted twice weekly, includes a structured warm-up, weekly targeted exercises (Week 1-4), and a cool-down phase for relaxation, flexibility, and bladder/postural education. The instructions of the supervised exercises would be Hold for 2 s in 3 repetitions, 5 seconds rest, 1 minute of rest between each exercise & 2 sets each. The record of each session will be written in diaries.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Questionnaire for Incontinence Diagnosis
Time Frame: 4 weeks
The Questionnaire for Incontinence Diagnosis is a self-reported screening tool used to identify the presence and type of urinary incontinence, such as stress, urge, or mixed incontinence. It consists of structured questions related to symptom triggers, frequency, and leakage patterns. Each item scores 0 (None of the time), 1 (Rarely), 2 (Once in a while), 3 (Often), 4 (Most of the time) or 5 (All of the time). Responses to items 1, 2 and 3 are summed for the Stress score; and responses to items 4, 5, and 6 are summed for the Urge score.
4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Incontinence Severity Index
Time Frame: 4 weeks
The ISI is a quick, two-question tool that assesses the frequency and amount of urine leakage. Scores range from 0 to 12, indicating severity from none to very severe. It is simple to administer and useful for tracking symptom changes over time.
4 weeks
International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire (ICIQ-UI-SF)
Time Frame: 4 weeks
The ICIQ-UI-SF is a validated self-reported questionnaire that assesses the frequency, severity, and impact of urinary incontinence. Scores range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating greater symptom severity and quality-of-life impact. It is widely used to quantify the patient-reported burden of incontinence.
4 weeks
Incontinence Impact Questionnaire
Time Frame: 4 weeks
The IIQ-7 assesses the psychosocial and functional impact of urinary incontinence on daily life, including physical activity, travel, and emotional well-being. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores reflecting a greater negative impact. It is a useful tool for evaluating quality of life related to incontinence.
4 weeks
Patient Global Impression of Improvement Scale
Time Frame: 4 weeks
The PGI-I is a single-item scale that captures the patient's overall perception of symptom improvement after treatment. It reflects subjective satisfaction with the intervention. The 7-point scale ranges from 1 (very much better) to 7 (very much worse), with lower scores indicating greater improvement.
4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Riphah International University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Dr Zahra Ijaz, Riphah International University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
May 7, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
July 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
May 18, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 18, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
May 22, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 20, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 17, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • Attiya Azhar

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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