Health-related quality of life. The effect of pelvic floor muscle training and midurethral sling surgery: a systematic review.

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a bothersome condition affecting health-related quality of life (HRQoL) to a great extent in women. From a patient's perspective, improving HRQoL is probably equally important as objective cure of SUI. Our objective was to assess the effect of pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) and midurethral sling surgery on condition-specific HRQoL in women with SUI. A systematic literature search was conducted in the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases. Studies reporting on HRQoL after intervention for SUI or mixed incontinence with a predominant SUI component were selected. Retrieved articles were appraised by all authors regarding participant entry criteria, study design, intervention, questionnaire, objective cure, and HRQoL presentation. There were three articles reporting HRQoL after PFMT and 11 after midurethral sling surgery. Improvement in HRQoL seemed higher after midurethral sling surgery compared with PFMT. However, methods of HRQoL assessment varied widely, limiting the possibility of comparison and interpretation between studies.