Pelvic floor symptoms such as lower urinary tract symptoms, defecation problems, sexual dysfunction and pelvic pain are prevalent in men en women. However, the relation between pelvic floor (dys)function and pelvic floor symptoms is unclear.
Data of pelvic floor symptom questionnaires and an internal pelvic floor muscle assessment of 199 men and 187 women were used for analysis. During this study of Francisca Notenboom-Nas we found in both sexes concomittant pelvic floor symptoms, and one out of three men and women, reported two or more pelvic floor symptoms. Men without pelvic floor symptoms showed in 80% some pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. Since we found a limited cooperation between the pelvic floor muscles, we advise, in female pelvic floor evaluation, both a vaginal and an anorectal pelvic floor muscle assessment. For both men and women we did not find a relation between pelvic floor muscle function (e.g. tone, contraction, relaxation, maximum voluntary contraction, number of maximum voluntary contractions, endurance) and the number of pelvic floor symptoms. Men more often showed an increased tone in all pelvic floor muscles, while women more often showed an impairment of the maximum voluntary contraction of the anal muscle and of the endurance of all pelvic floor muscles.
After a specific statistical analysis, the group of mostly younger men without pelvic floor symptoms, showed the most dissimilarity for tone, relaxation and maximum voluntary contraction. The results of this study might have been influenced by the complex interplay between the pelvic floor muscles and pelvic organs, and the way we analyzed the data.
