Efficacy of exercise on pelvic pain and posture associated with endometriosis: within subject design.
Eman Awad, Hamada Ahmed Hamada Ahmed, Amal Yousef and 1 others
PMID 29643586WHAT IT FOUND
Pain scores and thoracic kyphosis angle decreased after 8 weeks in women with endometriosis, but all received monthly hormonal treatment too, so the study cannot show exercise alone caused the change.
Key findings
01Pain intensity median scores were 4 before, 1.5 after 4 weeks, and 1 after 8 weeks, with significant reductions after 4 weeks and after 8 weeks.
02Kyphosis angle mean scores were 43.1 before, 43.0 after 4 weeks, and 39.6 after 8 weeks, with a significant reduction after 8 weeks compared with before and after 4 weeks.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study had no control group, so it cannot separate the effect of exercise from the effect of the concurrent hormonal treatment. All patients received the same hormonal treatment, Medroxyprogesterone Acetate 100 mg once/month for 6 months, while doing the exercise program, and took no analgesic drugs during the 8-week exercise period. Only 20 patients were studied, all with mild or moderate endometriosis, severe premenstrual pelvic pain, ages 26 to 32, and BMI not exceeding 29 kg/m2, so the results may not apply to other groups. Pain was measured with a subjective present pain intensity scale, not an objective measure. The study did not assess long-term effects or follow-up after the exercise program. The design was within-subject, with each patient serving as their own comparison, rather than compared with a control group.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that exercise alone reduced pain or kyphosis angle. All patients also received monthly Medroxyprogesterone Acetate for 6 months and took no analgesic drugs during the 8-week exercise period, and there was no control group, so the study cannot separate the effect of exercise from the hormonal treatment.