Reliability of a Vaginal Finger-Cot Device for measuring Pelvic-Floor Muscles strength

Pelvic-Floor-Muscle (PFM) training demonstrated to be effective in Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) prevention and treatment. In this study a vaginal squeeze pressure/force measurement device was development and critically analyzes the clinical appropriateness to use by physiotherapist in combination with vaginal palpation on PFM assessment and training. A Vaginal Finger-Cot Device (VFCD) with an embed strain-gauge pressure transducer was developed to measured vaginal squeeze pressure/force, in a time-base, preserving vaginal palpation. The VFCD was tested by two physiotherapists in 9 women. Measurements made by both examiners were mutually blinded. Intra-class Correlation Coefficients (ICC) were used to analyze the intra and inter-observer reliability of the Peak-Force (PkF) and Time-to-Peak-Force (T2PkF) measurements. High intra and inter-observer reliability was demonstrated for PkFr and Ti2PkFr (ICC = 0.82 and 0.87 respectively). The VFCD revealed a reliable measuring device to use by physiotherapists on PFM strength assessment also ensuring the maintenance of the clinical specificities of vaginal palpation.