Assesment of Hand grip Strength in Patients with Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Abstract

Aim: Pelvic organ prolapse(POP) is a common condition that is observed in 50% of parous women. Weakness of pelvic floor muscles is an important factor that leads to POP. The hand grip strength is related to total muscle strength and it could be used to evaluate one's general muscle strength. The Jamar hand dynamometer is a portable dynamometer that uses a strain gauge to measure hand grip strength. We hypothesized that general muscle strength would be impaired in patients with POP. Material and Method: Twenty patients with pelvic organ prolapse and twenty-one controls were recruited from the gynecology clinic of Namik Kemal University School of Medicine. The POP-Q classification was used to quantify the clinical severity of the prolapse. Hand grip strength was measured using a JAMAR hydraulic hand dynamometer. Results: The median pelvic organ prolapse score was 3 (1-4) in prolapse group. The mean Jamar scores of both groups were similar for the right hand, the left hand and the dominant hand (p=0.774, p=0.575 and p=0.707, respectively). The mean body fat percentage was 33.9 +/- 5.7 % in prolapses group and it was 38.9 +/- 7.4% in control group (p=0.021). Discussion: We found no difference in terms of general muscle strength between POP group and healthy controls. Our results showed that Jamar scores, which represented general muscle strength of body, did not related to pelvic organ muscle strength.