Efficacy of an education program on the pelvic floor and abdominal contraction on healthy male university students: a pilot study

The focus is on awareness, ability to activate and improve overall pelvic floor health. The aim of achieving these results is to highlight the need to spread knowledge and increase prevention efforts.

The study is a pilot and follows a longitudinal clinical trial design conducted from February to June 2024, involving 29 male university students divided into a control group and an intervention group. The latter received educational material aimed at enhancing awareness of pelvic floor activation and its synergy with abdominal muscles. The study involved two measurement points (pre- and post-intervention), and ultrasound imaging was used to monitor changes in muscle thickness (transverse abdomini, external oblique and internal oblique). Participants in the intervention group received educational content over 18 days. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA to compare muscle activations between groups and across time points.

Significant differences were found in the activation of the transverse abdomini and external oblique muscles between the control and intervention groups. The intervention group demonstrated a greater increase in muscle thickness during pelvic floor contraction and ASLR post-intervention compared to the control group, highlighting the potential of education to improve muscle synergy.

This pilot study supports the efficacy of a targeted educational program in enhancing awareness and coordination of pelvic floor and abdominal muscles in healthy males, emphasizing the importance of health literacy and prevention strategies for pelvic floor health.

In the course of the study, the investigators observed a significant lack of knowledge regarding the pelvic floor (PF) even among individuals with an understanding of anatomy. Furthermore, the study highlighted the substantial influence that educational programs can have on individuals' perception and ability to activate PF muscles. The proposed educational intervention represents a simple, cost-effective, and immediately implementable tool that can be readily integrated into routine physiotherapy practice. This approach offers considerable benefits to patients with minimal additional effort required from the therapist. It is recommended that physiotherapists increase their awareness of the impact of PF dysfunction on patients' daily lives and enhance their ability to identify such dysfunctions for timely referral to specialists.