Physiotherapy Exercise Programme for Pelvic Floor Function in Healthy Young Women

September 23, 2026 updated by: María de los Ángeles Sirvent Pinar, Universidad Miguel Hernandez de Elche

A Physiotherapy Exercise Programme Based on Hypopressive Exercise as Adjunctive Muscle Training for the Primary Prevention of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

This study evaluated the effects of a 12-week physiotherapy exercise programme on pelvic floor and abdominopelvic function in healthy young nulliparous women. Participants were randomly allocated to an intervention group or a control group. The intervention included supervised and home-based exercises focused on postural organization, breathing coordination, and lumbopelvic-abdominal muscle control. The control group continued their usual activities without receiving the study intervention. Pelvic floor muscle function, abdominopelvic functional responses, respiratory function, and health-related quality of life were assessed.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

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.

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 (Actual)

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.
84

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

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

18 years to 26 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Female university students aged 18 to 26 years.
  • Nulliparous.
  • No gynecological pathology.
  • No respiratory pathology.
  • History of sexual intercourse.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Failure to meet any of the inclusion criteria.

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: Prevention
  • 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.
Experimental: Intervention Group

Participants assigned to this group completed a 12-week physiotherapy exercise programme focused on postural organization, breathing coordination, and lumbopelvic-abdominal muscle control, combining supervised sessions with home-based exercise.
Behavioral: Multimodal Physiotherapy Exercise Programme

Participants completed a 12-week exercise programme combining postural organization, breathing coordination, and lumbopelvic-abdominal motor control. The programme included a 20-minute supervised session once weekly, complemented by home-based exercise.
No Intervention: Control group

Participants assigned to this group continued their usual activities and did not receive the study exercise programme during the 12-week study period.

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
Subumbilical Cough Test
Time Frame: Baseline and after the 12-week intervention

Qualitative assessment of abdominal wall response during coughing. The outcome was categorized as no bulging or bulging of the abdominal wall. Bulging was defined as caudal bulging of the umbilicopubic region during the cough maneuver, indicating insufficient abdominal muscle activation.
Baseline and after the 12-week intervention

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
Pelvic Floor Muscle Strength - Modified Oxford Scale
Time Frame: Baseline and after the 12-week intervention

Pelvic floor muscle strength was assessed by digital vaginal palpation using the Modified Oxford Scale, scored from 0 to 5, where 0 indicates no perceptible muscle contraction and 5 indicates a strong contraction.
Baseline and after the 12-week intervention
Pelvic Floor Muscle Endurance
Time Frame: Baseline and after the 12-week intervention

Pelvic floor muscle endurance was assessed by vaginal perineometry. Participants performed three maximal pelvic floor muscle contractions, each maintained for as long as possible. Endurance was recorded as the duration of the sustained contraction, expressed in seconds.
Baseline and after the 12-week intervention
Pelvic Floor Muscle Contraction Pressure
Time Frame: Baseline and after the 12-week intervention

Pelvic floor muscle contraction pressure was assessed by vaginal perineometry using a pressure probe. Participants performed three maximal pelvic floor muscle contractions, and contraction pressure was recorded in cmH2O.
Baseline and after the 12-week intervention
Abdominal Diastasis Functional Test
Time Frame: Baseline and after the 12-week intervention

Abdominal wall function was assessed by palpation of the linea alba in the supraumbilical and infraumbilical regions, at rest and during trunk elevation. The test evaluated the presence or absence and location of abdominal diastasis and the response of the linea alba during abdominal muscle activation.
Baseline and after the 12-week intervention
Transversus Abdominis Activation Test
Time Frame: Baseline and after the 12-week intervention

Abdominal wall response was assessed during maximal inspiration and expiration. During maximal expiration, the outcome was categorized according to whether the abdomen protruded ("pushes") or did not protrude ("does not push"), reflecting the activation response of the transversus abdominis.
Baseline and after the 12-week intervention
Forced Vital Capacity (FVC)
Time Frame: Baseline and after the 12-week intervention

Forced vital capacity was assessed by forced spirometry using a DATOSPIR-120 spirometer. Three measurements were performed and the best measurement was recorded. FVC was expressed in liters.
Baseline and after the 12-week intervention
Forced Expiratory Volume in One Second (FEV1)
Time Frame: Baseline and after the 12-week intervention

Forced expiratory volume in one second was assessed by forced spirometry using a DATOSPIR-120 spirometer. Three measurements were performed and the best measurement was recorded. FEV1 was expressed in liters.
Baseline and after the 12-week intervention
Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF)
Time Frame: Baseline and after the 12-week intervention

Peak expiratory flow was assessed by forced spirometry using a DATOSPIR-120 spirometer. Three measurements were performed and the best measurement was recorded. PEF was expressed in liters per second (L/s).
Baseline and after the 12-week intervention
Health-Related Quality of Life - SF-12
Time Frame: After the 12-week intervention

Health-related quality of life was assessed using the 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12). Physical and mental health component scores were calculated, with higher scores indicating better perceived health-related quality of life.
After the 12-week intervention

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.
Universidad Miguel Hernandez de Elche

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: Luís Gómez Pérez, PhD, Universidad Miguel Hernández

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

  • Sirvent-Pinar MA, Iglesias-Comesaña A, Guerrero-Rubio MA, Alarcón-Alarcón D, Rodríguez-Blanco N, Pérez de Arrilucea Le Floc'h U. Development and reproducible description of a multimodal physiotherapy intervention for pelvic floor health: a methodological report. BMC Women's Health. 2026. doi:10.1186/s12905-026-04779-3.

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, 2016

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 1, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

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.
May 1, 2017

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).
September 23, 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.
September 23, 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.
September 30, 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.
September 30, 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.
September 23, 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.
September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

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.
  • DPC.LGP.01.17

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

No prospective plan for individual participant data sharing was established for this study.

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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