Excerpt
Pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) comprise a wide spectrum of bothersome conditions such as urinary incontinence (UI), fecal incontinence (FI), and pelvic organ prolapse (POP). These disorders are highly prevalent in women, and it has been estimated that almost every fourth woman in the USA is affected. It has been established by Wu et al. that the proportion of women with one or more PFDs substantially increases with increased age, which is why it has been proposed that the aging of the population and the obesity epidemic will lead to an increased number of affected women [
1]. Moreover, some increase in demand for care for women with PFD will possibly also be the consequence of increased awareness among physicians about this topic and among patients owing to online resources [
2]. According to some projections, the number of women with at least one PFD in the USA will increase from 28.1 million in 2010 to 43.8 million in 2050. During this time, the number of women with UI is supposed to increase by 55%, the number of women with FI by 59%, and the number of women with POP by 46% [
3]. As such, PFDs will represent an important public health issue with lives of millions of adult women being negatively impacted [
4]. PFDs are becoming a significant burden in terms of reduced quality of life and workforce productivity. Moreover, both direct and indirect costs will increase. In the USA, each year, approximately 80,000 procedures are performed because of UI, 220,000 because of POP, and 3,500 because of FI. These numbers will most likely increase, as well as costs owing to behavioral therapy, physiotherapy, pharmacological treatment, etc. [
3]. It has been estimated that the surgical rates for SUI or POP will increase by 42.7% and that the demand for care for PFD will increase up to 35% from 2010 to 2030 [
2,
4]. …
