Pregnant women’s awareness, knowledge and beliefs about pelvic floor muscles: a cross-sectional survey

Abstract Background Urinary incontinence (UI) can negatively affect a woman’s quality of life, participation in sport and athletic performance. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of UI in competitive women powerlifters; identify possible risk factors and activities likely to provoke UI; and establish self-care practices. Methods This international cross-sectional study was conducted using an online survey completed by 480 competitive women powerlifters aged between 20 and 71 years. The Incontinence Severity Index (ISI) was used to determine the severity of UI. Results We found that 43.9% of women had experienced UI within the three months prior to this study. The deadlift was the most likely, and the bench-press the least likely exercise to provoke UI. ISI scores were positively correlated with parity (τ = 0.227, p < 0.001), age (τ = 0.179, p < 0.001), competition total (τ = 0.105, p = 0.002) and body mass index score (τ = 0.089, p = 0.009). There was no significant correlation between ISI and years strength training (τ = − 0.052, p = 0.147) or years powerlifting (τ = 0.041, p = 0.275). There was a negative correlation between ISI score with having a pelvic floor assessment (η = 0.197), and the ability to correctly perform pelvic floor exercises (η = 0.172). Conclusion The prevalence of UI in this cohort was at the upper limit experienced by women in the general population. Women who had undergone a pelvic floor examination or were confident in correctly performing pelvic floor exercises experienced less severe UI.

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Knowledge and Beliefs of General Public of India on COVID-19: A Web-based Cross-sectional Survey

10.1101/2020.04.22.20075267 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Puvvada Rahul Krishna ◽

Krishna Undela ◽

Shilpa Palaksha ◽

Balaji Sathyanarayana Gupta

Keyword(s):

General Public ◽

False Beliefs ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Web Based ◽

Level Of Education ◽

Low Level ◽

Knowledge And Beliefs ◽

The People ◽

Professional Workers

AbstractContextDespite many awareness programs conducted by the governments and other agencies, there are certain false beliefs among the general public of India towards the transmission, prevention, and treatment of COVID-19.AimsTo assess the knowledge and beliefs of the general public of India on COVID-19.Materials and MethodsA web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted between 20th March and 15th April 2020. A 17-item questionnaire was developed, validated, and used for the study. The questionnaire was randomly distributed among the public using Google forms through social media networks. Descriptive analysis was performed to represent the study characteristics, Chi-square test for assessing the associations among the study variables, and logistic regression analysis for identifying the factors influencing the beliefs.ResultsA total of 462 participants with a mean (SD) age of 30.66 (11.31) years were responded to the questionnaire. Study participants are having fairly good knowledge of the basic aspects of COVID-19. However, a considerable fraction of participants were having false beliefs towards the transmission of new coronavirus, and prevention & treatment of COVID-19. It was observed that the participants who were aged 31-60 years and >60 years, education level of intermediate or diploma and high school certificate, and occupation as the unskilled workers had more of false beliefs towards COVID-19 compared to their counterparts.ConclusionThough the overall knowledge on COVID-19 was good enough among the general public of India, still there is a need for education to avoid false beliefs especially among the people who are elderly, having a low level of education, and non-professional workers.Key MessagesA cross-sectional web-based online survey was conducted to assess the knowledge and beliefs of general public of India on COVID-19. It was identified that the knowledge among the general public on COVID-19 is fairly good. However, still there are some false beliefs among the population towards transmission of new coronavirus, and prevention & treatment of COVID-19, especially among the people who are elderly, having low level of education, and non-professional workers.

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