Evidence Hub

Effectiveness of electrical stimulation with conservative treatment for lower urinary tract symptoms in Parkinson's disease: A three-armed randomized controlled trial protocol

D. Bennink, R. D. de Bie, H. Elzevier, D. H. Hepp, G. van Koeveringe, A. A. van der Plas, H. Putter, M. Kummeling et al.

Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications, 2025

150 participants · 1 citation

Abstract

Background Despite the high prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD)—ranging from 27 % to 85 % including symptoms such as urinary urgency,- incontinence, frequency, and nocturia—evidence-based treatment options remain limited. Conservative treatments, such as bladder training, pelvic floor muscle exercises (PFME) with biofeedback and electrical stimulation, have been shown safe and effective in the general population, with minimal side effects. However, their efficacy specifically in PD patients remains unclear. Therefore this study aims to evaluate the effect of electrical stimulation with conservative treatment for LUTS in PD patients. Methods and analysis This randomized controlled trial includes three study arms. All three groups will receive conservative treatment in combination with different electrical stimulation parameters, small- and broad pulse duration and sham electrical stimulation. In total 150 PD patients with self-reported LUTS who are able to attend a pelvic physical therapy practice independently and complete online questionnaires will be enrolled. The primary outcome is the difference in international prostate symptom score (IPSS), with a range of 0–35. A minimal important difference of 4.2 between baseline and 12 weeks of treatment will be statistical significant (p˂0.05). Secondary outcome include questionnaires evaluating bladder dysfunction, burden, and quality of life and will be collected at…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 150 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free