Project Description

No longer recruiting!  Stay tuned for results!
Urinary incontinence affects up to one in five Canadian women. Conservative management approaches such as physiotherapy and intravaginal pessaries can be effective for many women suffering from stress urinary incontinence who report leakage during everyday activities such as coughing or laughing, but little is understood about the pelvic floor involvement. Through this study, we will investigate the anatomical and mechanical properties of the pelvic floor muscles in females who do not regularly put high-impact stress on their pelvic floor (i.e. running, jumping, brisk walking, or weightlifting). Participants, both with and without stress urinary incontinence, are needed. These data will be compared to individuals who engage in regular high-impact activities.

The results of this study will provide insight into what the pelvic floor involvement may be in all forms of stress urinary incontinence, which may lead to novel approaches to conservative care options.

Eligibility Criteria:

  • Females, 18+ years old
  • Daily activity is low impact only (no brisk walking, running, jumping, weightlifting, etc) – for a minimum of 1 year
  • Women with and without urine leakage due to stress urinary incontinence (cough, sneeze, laugh and lifting)
  • *BMI ≤30 due to limitations of our measurement tools (see acknowledgment below); ie someone 5’6″ tall and 185lb and less; BMI (weight and height) = kg/m² = (inches/lb)X703)
  • More eligibility and exclusion criteria will be reviewed in the telephone screening and discussion

*BMI Acknowledgment: Due to constraints associated with our measurement tools, in some studies we have to limit participation to those who have a body mass index (BMI) below 30. We acknowledge that this limits the generalizability of our results, as we must exclude a significant number of potential participants deserving of equitable research consideration. We further want to acknowledge that the exclusion of study participants having a BMI > 30 may be a difficult discussion point, understandably so given the weight bias and discrimination in our society of those who are overweight and/or obese. 

We are currently working on solutions to lift this restriction, which will result in our studies being much more inclusive and representative.   

Thank you for your understanding while we work to solve this issue.

Are you a runner with running-induced urinary incontinence? Please answer our pre-screen questionnaire to see if you may qualify for our randomized controlled trial looking at devices that may help with this issue! (https://mfmlab.ca/portfolio-items/running-induced-urinary-incontinence-rct/)

Please complete our triage questionnaire (https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/MFMtriage) to determine if you are likely eligible to participate and/or email us at for more details!

Participants will be accepted on a first-come, first served basis. The protocol has been reviewed by the University of Ottawa Health Sciences Research Ethics Board for compliance with national standards for ethical conduct of research on humans.

Principal Investigator:
Dr. Linda McLean
MFM Lab, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Ottawa