Comparison of the alignment of spine and pelvis and pelvic floor muscle's function between women with and without pelvic organ prolapse

Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) is a kind of pelvic floor disorders that affects the quality of life of affected individuals. According to relatively high prevalence of POP in women and the need to review the impact of risk factors in different populations, the present study aimed at compareing the alignment of the spine and pelvis and pelvic floor muscles’ function between women with and without POP. A total of 60 women with sequential non-random sampling were selected to participate in this descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study. Thirty women with POP who had reffered to Ayatollah Rohani hospital, according to inclusion criteria, were set asas case group and 30 women referring to the same hospital with zero or one degree of prolapse were selected as the control group. After obtaining demographic information, clinical examination including assessment of the spinal posture, state of vaginal rest tone, pelvic floor muscle's strength, and endurance were assessed. Obtained data were analysed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, t-test, Logistic Regression, chi-square test and Spearma. The data showed no significant differences between the two groups in terms of kyphosis (P=0.98) and pelvic tilt (p=0.06). But there is a significant differences in lumbar lordosis (P=0.04). Vaginal tone and pelvic floor muscle strength were significantly lower in patients compared with that in participants without pelvic organ prolapse (p<0.05). Loss of lumbar lordosis as one of the possible risk factors should be considered in patients with pelvic organ prolapse and, according to the results, the possibility of increase in kyphosis and posterior tilt of the pelvis in women with pelvic organ prolapse is higher in a larger population. Pelvic floor muscles are also emphasized in providing health care services for these patients.