[Pelvic floor muscle exercise and urinary incontinence--train yourself continent!].

BACKGROUND: Urinary incontinence is a major female health problem with prevalence rates varying between 8% and 52%. Urinary incontinence can be treated with surgery, medication, and several forms of pelvic floor muscle training. The aim of this review article is to evaluate the evidence from randomized controlled trials of pelvic floor muscle training in the treatment of urinary incontinence. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Computerised search in Medline and Sport and manual search in former published systematic reviews were undertaken. Only published articles of randomized controlled trials were included. RESULTS: Several randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that pelvic floor muscle training is more effective than no treatment and electrical stimulation in the treatment of stress incontinence. Adding biofeedback to the training has so far showed no additional effect. There is a lack of published studies on the effect of pelvic floor muscle training in urge incontinence and in men. INTERPRETATION: Female stress urinary incontinence can be effectively treated by pelvic floor muscle exercise; this is suggested as the first choice of treatment. There is a need for randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effect of pelvic floor muscle exercise in prevention of urinary incontinence.