The Use of Visual Prompts to Increase Kegel Exercise Performance in Pregnant Women: A Case Study

A multiple baseline research design utilising visual prompts was implemented with 7 women in varying stages of pregnancy (24 to 35 weeks) to increase their frequency of Kegel pelvic exercises. Following a baseline phase, in which participants self-recorded their rates of Kegel exercise, an intervention comprising visual prompts was introduced. A return to baseline phase was then implemented where the visual prompts were removed. Data were analysed in two ways. First, a Friedman one-way repeated measures analysis of variance revealed a significant increase in the frequency of Kegel exercises during intervention. When the intervention was removed, the frequency of Kegel exercises decreased, in some cases to a level below that established as the original baseline. Second, data were analysed for each participant using DMITSA 2.0, which revealed that, while all individuals experienced increases in Kegel exercising from baseline to treatment phase, only 3 of the 7 experienced significant increases. Similarly, while 6 of the 7 participants experienced reductions in frequency of exercises when the treatment phase concluded, in only one case was the reduction significant. These findings are also compared to recommended rates of Kegel exercise regimes.