eS908 WCPT Congress 2015 / Physiotherapy 2015; Volume 101, Supplement 1 eS833–eS1237
women, asymptomatic hypermobile women and women with
normal mobility.
Keywords: Beighton score; Principal component analy-
sis; Generalized joint hypermobility
Funding acknowledgements: The project was supported
by the Swiss National Science Foundation, with the grant
number # 13DPD6 127285.
Ethics approval: This study was approved by the local
research Ethics Committee of Canton Bern, Switzerland
(Number 229/2008).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physio.2015.03.1746
Research Report Platform Rapid 5 Presentation
Number: RR-PLR5-1553
Monday 4 May 2015 15:45
Room 324–326
THE PREVALENCE OF BLADDER AND
BOWEL SYMPTOMS EXPERIENCED BY
MEN AND WOMEN SEEKING TREATMENT
FOR GENERAL CHRONIC PAIN
C. Ludwik 1 , T. Mills 2 , H. Frawley 3,4
1 Bendigo Health, Bendigo, Australia; 2 Bendigo Health,
Collaborative Health Education and Research Centre,
Bendigo, Australia; 3 La Trobe University, Department of
Physiotherapy, Melbourne, Australia; 4 Cabrini Health,
Melbourne, Australia
Background: The association between bladder or bowel
symptoms and general musculo-skeletal pain, especially low
back pain conditions, has been previously identified, pre-
dominately in women. Few studies include men, and pain
chronicity is not well defined. It is important for physio-
therapists and other health professionals to be aware of the
prevalence of bladder and bowel symptoms in men and
women with chronic pain in order to inform screening and to
provide optimal care.
Purpose: To estimate the prevalence of incontinence (uri-
nary or faecal) and constipation among patients with general
chronic pain, and compare these estimates with correspond-
ing Australian national data in community cohorts.
Methods: This was a prospective, cross-sectional cohort
study. All patients with general chronic pain attending Out-
patient Rehabilitation Services at Bendigo Health over a 12
month period were invited to participate by flyers and by
their treating health professionals. Participants completed an
anonymous questionnaire comprising demographic informa-
tion, a body pain chart, the Urogenital Distress Inventory
Short Form, the Wexner score and the Bowel Function Index.
A body chart identified areas affected by pain. The remaining
tools identified the presence of urinary incontinence, faecal
incontinence and constipation.
Confidence intervals, set at 95%, were calculated for the
estimated prevalence of incontinence and constipation in the
general chronic pain group and compared to published gen-
eral population prevalence data. Associations between pain
location and faecal incontinence, urinary incontinence and
constipation were determined using the Fisher’s exact test.
Results: The study population comprised 82 participants
with an average age of 58 years (range 26–83). This sam-
ple of patients was representative of the population from
which the sample was drawn in terms of age (z = 0.668,
p = 0.25) and sex (Chi-square(1) = 0.04, p = 0.84). Low back
pain +/− other body pain was reported by 80.5% of par-
ticipants, the remaining 19.5% experienced pain in areas
excluding the lower back. Urinary incontinence was reported
by 65.8% [CI = 55.6–76.1] of participants compared with
24% [CI = 23–26] of the general Australian population. Fae-
cal incontinence was experienced by 47.6% [CI = 36.7–53.9]
of the study population, compared with 8% [CI = 7–9] of the
general Australian population. Prevalence rates for inconti-
nence were significantly higher for both men and women in
this study when compared with the national estimates. Con-
stipation was reported by 40.4% [CI = 27.6–53.1] of women
in the study but this was not statistically different from the
limited prevalence data existing for age-specific cohorts of
Australian women. Low back pain was statistically associated
with urinary incontinence (p = 0.01) and faecal incontinence
(p = 0.01), but not with constipation.
Conclusion(s): Patients who presented to a general
chronic pain outpatient clinic had a significantly higher preva-
lence of urinary incontinence and faecal incontinence than
has been identified in prevalence studies of the community
dwelling general Australian population. There is an associ-
ation between chronic low back pain and the presence of
urinary and/or faecal incontinence.
Implications: This study may prompt screening of men
and women experiencing chronic pain to identify bladder
and bowel symptoms, thereby improving their opportunity
to access appropriate services.
Keywords: Incontinence prevalence; Chronic pain; Low
back pain
Funding acknowledgements: Time allocated for this
research was enabled by Bendigo Health, Australia.
Ethics approval: Human Research Ethics Committee,
Bendigo Health, Australia 2013.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physio.2015.03.1747