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We aim to support GPs in delivering high-quality pelvic care and facilitate patients with these symptoms in the uptake of self-management.

The ‘Pelvic and abdominal problems’ group specifically focuses on:

  • Urinary incontinence (women and children)
    a. Self-management through the URinControl app
    b. Outpatient care for urinary incontinence and prolaps
    c. Treatment of stress urinary incontinence with bulking agents and midurethral slings
    d. Child incontinence: interdisciplinary (secondary) care;
  • Lower urinary tract symptoms in men
    a. Self-management through an online intervention (URinControl4men);
  • Pelvic Floor Symptoms in men and women;
  • Urinary tract infections
    a. Assessment of UTIs in Dutch and German primary care setting
    b. Recurrent UTIs, treatment in secondary care;
  • Overactive bladder (drug) treatment
    a. Network meta-analyses on anticholinergics (CLUE working group)
    b. Sex-specific effect of mirabegron on OAB (IPD analyses).

Next to these topics, researchers in this group perform studies on (digital) interdisciplinary consultations.
Relevance

How our research benefits to society

Pelvic and abdominal symptoms are highly prevalent among men and women of all ages with a considerable impact on their quality of life. Despite this, patients are reluctant to seek care, as many believe that symptoms are either part of ageing, or untreatable. Those who seek care often receive suboptimal care.

For women with urinary incontinence, our group has successfully developed the URinControl app, to facilitate self-management. This intervention showed to be effective and cost-effective and is now freely available for the nearly one million women in the Netherlands who deal with urinary incontinence. Further implementation in the Netherlands and abroad is foreseen, lowering the impact of this condition in many millions more around the world.

For the other research focusses mentioned, there is also a need to fill in the gaps in our knowledge, e.g., the role of the pelvic floor muscles in the occurrence of different pelvic floor symptoms in men and women, and the effective organization of care for this often-coinciding conditions.

External members

 

Contact

University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)
Department of Primary and Long-term Care
Midwifery Science Northern-Netherlands
Internal postcode FA21
P.O. Box 196
9700 AD Groningen

Visiting address
UMCG
Department of Primary and Long-term Care
Oostersingel | entrance 47 | building 50 | 2nd floor
Groningen
The Netherlands