Abstract:
Objective: To determine the responsiveness of Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory (PFDI) and Pelvic Floor Impact
Questionnaire (PFIQ) in women with pelvic organ prolapse, undergoing vaginal reconstructive surgery versus women
with no surgery.
Methodology: This study was a cross sectional comparative study carried out in the department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology, Pakistan Air Force Hospital, Mianwali in a period from January 2011 to December 2015. Prolapsed women
with stage II or more and with willingness for surgery were included in the surgery group. Those willing for conservative
management (pelvic floor exercises) were included in the non-surgical group. All patients in both groups completed
the PFDI and PFIQ at baseline and 6 month follow-up.
Results: Mean (±SD) age, weight, and parity of the patients were 51.42 (±9.07) years, 58.60 (±6.8) kg and 4.00 (±2.14)
respectively. More than half of the patients (61%) belonged to low socio economic status, followed by middle class
34% and upper class 5%. Majority of the patients (61%) were post-menopausal. Most of the patients (72%) had stage
II prolapse, followed by stage III (27%) and stage IV (1%). Among the associated symptoms, voiding dysfunction
(81%) was most commonly observed symptom. At baseline all the scores were found to be significantly high in
surgical group as compared to non-surgical group however at follow-up significantly low scores were observed in
surgical group than non-surgical group. Also, significant decrease in mean scores was observed in both the groups
from baseline to follow-up.
Conclusion: The PFDI and PFIQ both are responsive to change in women undergoing surgical and non-surgical
treatment for pelvic organ prolapse. But PFDI and PFIQ are more responsive to change in the surgical group. It was
also concluded that PFDI is more responsive than the PFIQ in women with pelvic organ relapse
