About Us
2003 – 2006 NH&MRC Grant
‘The effect of pelvic floor muscle training for the management of incontinence in older women: a single blind randomised trial’. The aim of the proposed project is to determine the effect of pelvic floor muscle training in women aged 70 years and over, who have urodynamically proven stress urinary incontinence, and no symptoms of urge detected on cystometry.
2002-2004 Early Career Researcher Grant, School of Physiotherapy
Ultrasound biofeedback in the management of incontinence in the elderly: Physiotherapy intervention, including pelvic floor exercise, has been shown to be an effective treatment of urinary incontinence. This project is investigating the effectiveness of abdominal ultrasound imaging as biofeedback for pelvic floor activity in the elderly, as we have shown that this is a reliable, non-invasive method of visualizing pelvic floor muscles action in males and females under 60 years of age. Evidence that non-invasive abdominal ultrasound biofeedback is at least as effective or more effective than current best practice conventional physiotherapy, would encourage more people with incontinence, particularly the elderly, to seek treatment for their problem. This project is the first of its kind investigating this non-invasive technology for the assessment and treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction and is therefore at the forefront of use of this technology in this field.
2001-2004 National Continence Management Strategy, Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care
‘Development of an intervention and education program for incontinence in women with Chronic Obstructive Airways Disease (COPD) and Cystic Fibrosis(CF). The prevalence and risk factors for incontinence in Australia have been investigated, but not specifically for women with chronic lung diseases. While coughing is a known risk factor for stress incontinence, other risk factors and causes are poorly understood in this population. Treatment of incontinence for patients with chronic lung disease is also poorly addressed, adding to the burden of disease for patients, carers and the health system. This project has recently been completed and has estimated the prevalence of incontinence in COPD and CF adult women, and evaluated the effect of a specific treatment and management program for these patients. The results will be disseminated to respiratory health professionals.
2003-2004
Measuring the loads on the lumbar spine during activity – preliminary work towards developing a new tool for investigating the mechanics of low back pain during pregnancy: Low back pain is a common problem for women during pregnancy. While postural changes and altered load bearing in the lumbar spine have been implicated as a cause of this pain, there has not been a validated tool for measuring the loads on the lumbar spine. This is a technical study investigating whether the load on the lumbar spine of pregnant women is increased during walking and developing measurement techniques to measure this load.