EFFECTS OF ELECTRICAL STIMULATION ON IMPROVING QUALITY OF LIFE IN WOMEN PATIENTS WITH URINARY INCONTINENCE

Abstract

Urinary incontinence is a common disorder in females. Therefore, physiotherapy as a treatment is based on normalizing the muscle tone of the pelvic floor muscles, using various resources such as electrical stimulation. The objective of the study was to analyze the effects of electrical stimulation on the quality of life in female patients with urinary incontinence. A literature review was carried out in the PubMed and LILACS databases, using the descriptors “Urinary Incontinence”, “Electric Stimulation”, “Quality of life”, “Women”, associated using the Boolean operator “AND”. In the LILACS database, the descriptor “Quality of life” was not used. Randomized clinical trials that addressed the intervention and outcome of interest were included and studies with another intervention, associated with another pathology, research protocols and literature reviews were excluded. The initial search resulted in 24 articles and, after filtering the selected inclusion and exclusion criteria, 4 articles were selected for final analysis. The selected studies indicate safe and effective effects of using the technique in improving the quality of life applied to female patients with urinary incontinence, being beneficial, safe and effective in the treatment and improving the quality of life in patients with urinary incontinence.