Media release

From: American College of Physicians

Yoga no more effective than general exercise in reducing urinary incontinence in older women

A randomized trial involving middle aged and older women reporting daily urinary incontinence (UI) found that a pelvic floor yoga intervention did not result in a greater improvement in UI symptoms compared to a general muscle stretching and strengthening exercise program. However, participants in both intervention groups reported some improvement in their UI symptoms. These findings are important because 1 in 3 women in this age group experience UI, which can lead to depression, social isolation, and functional decline. The study is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Yoga has been recommended for women with UI, but there is little data available to determine its efficacy. Researchers from the University of California San Francisco randomly assigned 240 women aged 45 years or older reporting daily urgency-, stress-, or mixed-type UI to either 12 weeks of a yoga or a nonspecific stretching and strengthening exercise program to compare the two interventions for improving symptoms of UI. Women in the yoga group had twice-weekly group instruction and once-weekly self-directed practice of pelvic floor–specific Hatha yoga techniques, while the exercise group had equivalent-time instruction and practice of general skeletal muscle stretching and strengthening exercises. Participants used a diary to record each time they leaked urine by frequency and type of UI at baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks and were also asked to complete and return diaries after 24 and 36 weeks for assessment of persistent changes in UI. The researchers found that the yoga intervention was not superior to the general exercise program in reducing clinically important UI and both groups had similar incidents of adverse events. According to the researchers, future studies should investigate potential effects of yoga on type-specific UI and factors underlying perceived improvements in UI among older women engaged in yoga and other physical interventions.