Using focus groups to inform a peer health navigator service for people who are transgender and gender diverse in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Background: This study investigated healthcare access and quality for people who are transgender and gender-diverse (PTGD) in Saskatchewan (SK), Canada, to inform a larger project that was piloting two peer health navigators for PTGD.

Methods: Two online focus groups were held. Nineteen participants were recruited to represent a broad range in age, gender and location in SK.

Lessons Learned Developing Client Navigation for People who are Trans and Gender Diverse.

Background: People who are trans and gender diverse (PTGD) are underserved regarding healthcare in Canada, including the province of Saskatchewan.

Objectives: Design and conduct a research project that will address immediate and pressing community-identified needs related to improving access to healthcare for PTGD in Saskatchewan.

Methods: A multidisciplinary, community-based collaboration was established to address the self-identified obstacles to accessing healthcare of PTGD in Saskatchewan.

Identifying a Cohort of People Who Are Transgender and Gender-Diverse Within Saskatchewan's Administrative Health Databases.

This was a retrospective cohort study. Algorithms were developed to identify a cohort of people who were trans and gender diverse (PTGD) among provincial-level administrative health databases (physician, hospital, emergency department, and pharmacy) from April 1, 2012 to September 30, 2020. Then, healthcare usage was compared between the identified cohort and the general population.

Is Pelvic Floor Dysfunction Associated With Development of Transient Low Back Pain During Prolonged Standing? A Protocol.

Background: Prolonged standing has been associated with an increased prevalence of low back pain (LBP) and is recognized as a potential workplace hazard for employees such as retail staff, assembly line workers, and healthcare personnel. Low back pain is more prevalent in women than in men, and disability due to LBP is worse in women with severe urinary incontinence. However, it is unclear whether pelvic floor dysfunction observed in stress urinary incontinence is a risk factor for LBP.

A Review of the Effects of Physical Therapy on Self-Esteem in Postpartum Women With Lumbopelvic Dysfunction.

This study sought to determine the impact of physical therapy for lumbopelvic dysfunction on self-esteem in postpartum women. Systematic searches were carried out in CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, Medline (OVID), Cochrane, and Web of Science by a health sciences librarian using various combinations of subject headings and key words. A dual review process was used first to assess titles and abstracts and then to examine the full text.

Biomechanical and physiological age differences in a simulated forward fall on outstretched hands in women.

Background: Falling on the outstretched hands, a protective mechanism to arrest the body and avoid injury, requires upper limb and trunk motor control for effective body descent. Older women are particularly susceptible to injury from a forward fall, but the biomechanical and physiological (e.g.

Relationship Between Back Pain and Urinary Incontinence in the Canadian Population.

Background: Back problems and urinary incontinence (UI) have been found to co-occur more frequently than would be predicted by chance.

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the associations between UI and back problems in the Canadian men and women.

Design: This was an observational, cross-sectional study.

Female Age-Related Differences in Biomechanics and Muscle Activity During Descents on the Outstretched Arms.

The purposes of this study were to examine female age differences in: (1) upper extremity (UE) and trunk muscle activity, elbow joint moment, loading force, and UE energy absorption during a controlled forward body descent; and (2) UE muscle strength. Twenty young (mean 24.8 ± 3.

Pelvic floor morphometry: a predictor of success of pelvic floor muscle training for women with stress and mixed urinary incontinence.

Introduction And Hypothesis: The aim of this study was to determine if pelvic floor muscle (PFM) morphometry at baseline, as measured by MRI, can predict response to PFM training in women with stress or mixed urinary incontinence (UI).

Methods: This study was a prospective quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test cohort study of women with UI, aged 60 years and older. All participants completed a baseline assessment of UI severity and impact, using the 72-h bladder diary and the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire.

Upper limb and trunk muscle activation during an unexpected descent on the outstretched hands in young and older women.

Falling on the outstretched hands (FOOSH), a protective mechanism to arrest the body and avoid injury, requires upper limb and trunk motor control for effective body descent. The purpose of this study was to investigate muscle activity during three phases of an unexpected FOOSH in healthy older and younger women. Twenty young (mean age 22.

Differences in pelvic floor morphology between continent, stress urinary incontinent, and mixed urinary incontinent elderly women: An MRI study.

Aims: To compare magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the pelvic floor musculature (PFM), bladder neck and urethral sphincter morphology under three conditions (rest, PFM maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), and straining) in older women with symptoms of stress (SUI) or mixed urinary incontinence (MUI) or without incontinence.

Methods: This 2008-2012 exploratory observational cohort study was conducted with community-dwelling women aged 60 and over. Sixty six women (22 per group), mean age of 67.

Changes in urethral sphincter size following rehabilitation in older women with stress urinary incontinence.

Introduction And Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a pelvic floor muscle (PFM) rehabilitation program on the striated urethral sphincter in women over 60 years with stress urinary incontinence (SUI). We hypothesized that the PFM rehabilitation program would also exercise the striated urethral sphincter and that this would be demonstrated by hypertrophy of the sphincter on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: Women with at least weekly episodes of SUI were recruited.

Survey of Canadian Physiotherapists: Entry-Level and Post-professional Education in Women's Health.

Purpose: The aims of this study were to identify (1) practice patterns of Canadian physiotherapists who consider themselves women's health providers or educators (WHPTs); (2) WHPTs' perception of the relative importance of entry-level and post-professional education curricular content directed at women's health issues; and (3) WHPTs' patterns and preferences with respect to continuing education.

Method: A survey link was sent via e-mail to all 429 members of the Women's Health Division of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association and to physiotherapist educators at the 14 Canadian physiotherapy programmes.

Results: A total of 114 WHPTs responded (27%), including 16 educators.

Effects of PFM rehabilitation on PFM function and morphology in older women.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a pelvic floor muscle (PFM) rehabilitation program on incontinence symptoms, PFM function, and morphology in older women with SUI.

Methods: Women 60 years old and older with at least weekly episodes of SUI were recruited. Participants were evaluated before and after a 12-week group PFM rehabilitation intervention.

Comparison of two methods for measuring the pubococcygeal line from sagittal-plane magnetic resonance imaging.

Aims: The pubococcygeal line (PCL) is an important reference line for determining measures of pelvic organ support on sagittal-plane magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); however, there is no consensus on where to place the posterior point of the PCL. As coccyx movement produced during pelvic floor muscle (PFM) contractions may affect other measures, optimal placement of the posterior point is important. This study compared two methods for measuring the PCL, with different posterior points, on T2-weighted sagittal MRI to determine the effect of coccygeal movement on measures of pelvic organ support in older women.

Women with stress urinary incontinence demonstrate motor control differences during coughing.

Introduction: This study compared the patterns of pelvic floor muscle (PFM) activity during coughing between women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and continent women, using surface electromyography (EMG) and posterior vaginal wall (PVW) pressure.

Methods: Twenty-four women participated: eight continent, eight with mild SUI and eight with severe SUI. Volunteers performed three maximum coughs in supine and standing.

Intravaginal pressure generated during voluntary pelvic floor muscle contractions and during coughing: the effect of age and continence status.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to determine if, compared to continent women, women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) generate lower intravaginal pressure (IVP) during maximum voluntary pelvic floor muscle contractions (PFM MVCs) or coughing, slower contraction times or less ability to sustain IVP, and if there are reductions in the ability to generate IVP during these tasks associated with increasing age.

Methods: Eighty-seven (35 continent, 35 with mild SUI and 17 with severe SUI) women participated. IVP data were acquired while participants performed PFM MVCs, maximum effort coughs and a sustained PFM contraction.

Women with SUI demonstrate motor control differences during voluntary pelvic floor muscle contractions.

Introduction And Hypothesis: To compare maximum abdominal and pelvic floor muscle (PFM) electromyographic (EMG) and intravaginal pressure (IVP) amplitudes and muscle activation patterns during voluntary PFM contractions between women with and without stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

Methods: Twenty-eight continent women and 44 women with SUI performed single and repeated PFM contractions in supine. Surface EMG data were recorded simultaneously with IVP.

Quantification of abdominal and pelvic floor muscle synergies in response to voluntary pelvic floor muscle contractions.

The relative levels of pelvic floor muscle (PFM) activation and pressure generated by maximum voluntary PFM contractions were investigated in healthy continent women. The normal sequence of abdominal and PFM activation was determined. Fifteen women performed single and repeated maximum voluntary PFM contractions in supine, sitting and standing.

A contextual model of pelvic floor muscle defects in female stress urinary incontinence: a rationale for physiotherapy treatment.

On the basis of the current literature, we describe a model of structural defects in stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and how physiotherapy for SUI can affect each component of the model with reference to the relevant anatomy and pathophysiology. This model of SUI involves four primary structural defects: (1) increased tonic stress on the pelvic fascia due to pelvic floor muscle (PFM) tears; (2) fascial tearing due to PFM denervation; (3) fascial weakness resulting from tears; and (4) inefficient PFM contraction due to altered motor control. These four components interact to collectively weaken urethral closure and allow urine leakage under conditions of increased intra-abdominal pressure.

Relationship between abdominal and pelvic floor muscle activation and intravaginal pressure during pelvic floor muscle contractions in healthy continent women.

Aim: Activation of the abdominal muscles might contribute to the generation of a strong pelvic floor muscle contraction, and consequently may contribute to the continence mechanism in women. The purpose of this study was to determine the abdominal muscle activation levels and the patterns of muscle activity associated with voluntary pelvic floor muscle (PFM) contractions in urinary continent women.

Methods: Fifteen healthy continent women participated.