Predictors of Disability Attributed to Symptoms of Increased Interrecti Distance in Women after Childbirth: An Observational Study.

Women volunteered through newspapers, childcare centres, social media, and a blog, so those with more symptoms may have been more likely to take part. The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot show whether pain, fear-avoidance, distress, or disability caused the others. The disability measure was a modified Pain Disability Index, with pain removed and the scale changed from 0 to 9 per item, giving a maximum total of 63; this version was not validated. The sample lacked obese women, so the absence of a BMI-physical activity relationship may not apply to more diverse populations. Accelerometer counts may not capture avoidance of specific activities such as lifting, so physical activity findings may miss relevant fears. No norm values for the modified Pain Disability Index in the general population were available. All participants already had an increased interrecti distance, so the study does not compare them with women without it.

Funded by Uppsala-Örebro Regional Research Council, Sweden. The funders played no role in the design, conduct, or reporting of the study.

Do not conclude that the size of the interrecti distance causes disability or that treating it will reduce symptoms. The measured interrecti distance was not a significant predictor of disability, and the study did not test any treatment.