Efficacy of a Modular App-Based Pelvic Floor Muscle Training Program for Postoperative Continence Recovery After Radical Prostatectomy: A Multi-Center Randomized Controlled Trial (PELVINTENSE Study)
Abstract
Simple Summary After radical prostatectomy, many men experience stress urinary incontinence, which can strongly affect daily activities and quality of life. Pelvic floor muscle training is recommended to improve continence, but access to physiotherapy and long-term adherence are often limited. Digital health tools may help deliver structured training more consistently. In this multicenter randomized study, we compared an app-based perioperative pelvic floor muscle training program with standard physiotherapist-guided training. Men scheduled for radical prostatectomy started training three weeks before surgery and continued until three months afterward. The main outcome was whether patients were completely continent 90 days after surgery. We also assessed continence severity, quality of life, treatment satisfaction, and adherence. Patients using the app recovered continence faster and more often than those receiving standard care. At three months, about three-quarters of app users were continent compared with about one-fifth of patients in the control group. This benefit remained stable in additional analyses that tested conservative assumptions. App users also reported better continence-related quality of life and showed higher adherence before surgery, while erectile function did not differ between groups. These findings indicate that app-based pelvic floor muscle training is associated with significantly improved early recovery after prostate surgery and supports scalable…
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.
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