Psychosocial Skills Group for Pelvic Floor Symptoms

Piloting a Virtual Education and Psychosocial Skills Group for Postpartum Pelvic Floor Symptoms

There is a critical need for evidence-based programs that address the educational needs and psychosocial impact of childbirth-related pelvic floor injuries and conditions in an accessible format. The purpose of this pilot study is to develop, implement, and evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of a manualized 6-session psychosocial skills and education group for individuals with birth-related pelvic floor injuries and conditions. This group-based approach integrates psychoeducation, pain science, cognitive-behavioral techniques, acceptance-based and mindfulness skills to enhance quality of life and coping skills for those managing these conditions.

This research study will test whether a virtual education and psychosocial skills group can provide valuable resources and skill-building for people living with these conditions. The findings from this pilot study will help us understand whether this type of program is feasible, acceptable, and potentially beneficial, and will inform refinement of the group protocol and study procedures in preparation for a future randomized controlled trial.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Pelvic Floor Disorder; Pelvic Floor Awareness
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Education and Psychosocial Skills

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 16
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New Hampshire
    • Lebanon, New Hampshire, United States, 03766
      • Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Interested participants are eligible to participate if they:

1. Are experiencing pelvic floor symptoms following vaginal delivery within the past year; this may include urinary or fecal incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse symptoms ("tampon falling out"), and pelvic pain.
2. Believe that their pelvic floor symptoms are negatively impacting wellbeing and quality of life.
3. Are under the care of a medical provider for management of physical symptoms (e.g., pelvic floor PT, urogynecologist, obstetrician gynecologist, primary care clinician, etc).
4. Are English-speaking.
5. Are comfortable participating in a virtual group-based setting.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Cognitive disability that prevents participants from understanding and engaging with spoken and written group content
2. Suicidal thoughts or urges to harm oneself
3. Lack of private space to join the group sessions from
4. Current pregnancy

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Education and Psychosocial Skills Group; 6-session, virtual psychosocial education and skills group, for individuals with birth-related pelvic floor conditions

Behavioral: Education and Psychosocial Skills; Participants will attend a 6-session, virtual psychosocial education and skills group, for individuals with birth-related pelvic floor conditions. This is a non-randomized pilot feasibility study. All enrolled participants will receive the same group content, with assessments conducted at baseline (pre-group), brief surveys after each session, and immediately following group completion.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Feasibility - retention; number of participants who complete at least four out of six sessions		Through study completion (average of 8 weeks)
Feasibility - time to complete recruitment (target N=16)		Through recruitment completion
Feasibility of the Intervention Measure	4-item instrument measuring the feasibility of an intervention using a 5-point Likert scale, with higher scores reflecting higher feasibility. Score range: 1-5 (score represents mean of items).	Post-test administered immediately after completing 6-week intervention
Acceptability - Participant ratings of content relevance and helpfulness		Weekly for 6 weeks
Acceptability of the Intervention Measure	4-item instrument measuring the acceptability of an intervention using a 5-point Likert scale, with higher scores reflecting greater acceptability. Score range: 1-5 (score represents mean of items).	Post-test administered immediately after completing 6-week intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Patient Health Questionnaire	9-item depression measure, with each item scored on a 4-point Likert scale. Score range: 0-27; higher scores reflect more severe depression symptoms.	Pre-test administered immediately before 6-week intervention begins; post-test administered immediately after after completing 6-week intervention
Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale	31-item measure of perinatal anxiety, with each item scored on a 4-point Likert scale. Score range: 0-93; higher scores reflect more severe anxiety symptoms.	Pre-test administered immediately before 6-week intervention begins; post-test administered immediately after after completing 6-week intervention
Barkin Index of Maternal Functioning	20-item measure of maternal functioning, with each item scored on a 7-point Likert scale. Score range 0-120; higher total scores reflect higher functioning.	Pre-test administered immediately before 6-week intervention begins; post-test administered immediately after after completing 6-week intervention
University of Washington Self-Efficacy Scale	6-item measure of chronic condition-related self-efficacy, with each item scored on a 5-point Likert scale. Scores range from 6-30; higher scores reflect greater self-efficacy.	Pre-test administered immediately before 6-week intervention begins; post-test administered immediately after after completing 6-week intervention
Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire	21-item measure of pelvic floor symptom-related impact, with each item scored on a 4-point Likert scale. Validated scoring formula results in a total score range of 0-300; higher scores reflect more symptom-related quality of life impairment.	Pre-test administered immediately before 6-week intervention begins; post-test administered immediately after after completing 6-week intervention
Queensland Female Pelvic Floor Questionnaire	42-item measure of pelvic floor symptom severity and associated level of bother across four categories (bladder function, bowel function, prolapse symtoms, sexual function), with each item scored on a 4-point Likert scale. Scores for each domain range from 0-10; higher scores reflect greater symptom severity.	Pre-test administered immediately before 6-week intervention begins; post-test administered immediately after after completing 6-week intervention
Brief COPE Inventory	28-items measure of various coping strategies, each item scored on a 4-point Likert scale. Scale scores range from 1-4 (representing mean of items); higher scores on each subscale indicate greater use of that coping strategy.	Pre-test administered immediately before 6-week intervention begins; post-test administered immediately after after completing 6-week intervention
Female Self Advocacy Scale	Female Self-Advocacy in Cancer Survivorship Scale (language modified; cancer survivorship --> pelvic floor symptom management); 20-item measure of health-related self-advocacy, with each item scored on a 6-point Likert scale. Scores range from 20-120; higher scores reflect greater self-advocacy.	Pre-test administered immediately before 6-week intervention begins; post-test administered immediately after after completing 6-week intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 17, 2026
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 19, 2026
• Study Completion (Actual): May 19, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 21, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 17, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): February 24, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 28, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 27, 2026
• Last Verified: May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: childbirth injuries; pelvic floor conditions
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Urogenital Diseases; Male Urogenital Diseases; Female Urogenital Diseases; Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications; Pregnancy Complications; Pelvic Floor Disorders; Socioeconomic Factors; Population Characteristics; Educational Status
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY02003254

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED
• IPD Plan Description: De-identified data may be shared upon request, pending updated data sharing agreement forms.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No