Abstract

Objective: To determine the factors that affect the level of adherence to pelvic floor exercise in females with urinary incontinence (UI) after C-section.
Methodology: This observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study included a sample of 360 patients treated for UI. We used a self-administered, 28-item questionnaire founded on the WHO's five dimensions.
Results: Therapy-related factors, healthcare team, system-related factors, and condition-related factors were associated with treatment adherence. Patient-related factors and social and demographic characteristics were associated with treatment adherence except “Was performing your home exercises bothersome in any way? “The majority were having moderate treatment adherence which was 75.8%, 11.4% had low adherence and 11.1% had high adherence. Employment of patients showed no association with adherence to pelvic floor exercises.
Conclusion: Treatment adherence was associated with therapy-related factors, healthcare team, system-related factors, condition-related factors and patient-related factors of the participants. Treatment adherence was also associated with social and demographic factors in which education had an association but is not associated with paid employment.

Key words: Urinary incontinence, pelvic floor muscle exercise, urinary incontinence, treatment adherence.