[Interest of mobile and internet applications in the management of stress urinary incontinence in women. A systematic review].

Introduction: Current recommendations for the management of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) include conservative interventions as first-line treatments. New approaches are emerging with the arrival of health applications on smartphones. The objective of this review is to evaluate the interest of mobile and Internet applications in the treatment of SUI in women.

Method: Interventional studies evaluating the use of mobile applications or websites in the management of women with SUI were selected from PubMed, Cinalh and PEDro databases. An analysis of symptoms, quality of life and adherence was carried out, highlighting biases.

Results: Eight of the 85 retrieved articles were selected. These studies report an improvement in SUI symptoms, quality of life and adherence after an intervention including new technologies (LE1). This type of intervention appears to be superior to the absence of intervention: patients report an improvement in symptoms (ICIQ-SF P<0.001 ; decrease in the number of pads P=0.023, LE1) and a greater perception of improvement (P<0.001, LE1). This type of intervention seems to be more effective than those in paper format on the decrease in the number of pads (P=0.02, LE1) and the perception of improvement (P=0.03, LE1).

Conclusion: This innovative approach seems to reduce SUI symptoms, improve the quality of life and the functionality of pelvic floor muscles with long-term results. This type of intervention may improve adherence provided that it is associated with a treatment by a therapist.