A new US study of over 4,000 women aged 25 to 84 has found that one in three American females suffers a pelvic floor disorder.

The symptoms of pelvic floor disorders include a frequent urge to urinate, incontinence and dropped pelvic organs.

Of the 4,000 women studied (80 per cent of whom had given birth), 25 per cent reported suffering anal incontinence, 15 per cent stress urinary incontinence, 13 per cent from overactive bladder and six per cent from pelvic organ prolapse. Previous research by the same team found that women who had given birth vaginally had double the rate of pelvic floor disorders compared to those who had had caesareans or who had not yet given birth.

Study author Jean Lawrence, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente department of research and evaluation in southern California, said, ‘These conditions really affect a woman’s quality of life. Many women think this is just something they have to deal with as they age, and there isn’t anything they can do about it, but that’s not true’.

Co-author of the study, Dr Karl Luber, a urogynecologist in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Centre, said, ‘One of the myths surrounding pelvic floor disorder is that it affects only older women, but the truth is these conditions are extremely prevalent and extremely debilitating. But because the subject matter isn’t cocktail conversation, women feel isolated and don’t seek support and treatment. Among the available options for treatment for these common disorders are physical therapy to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, devices that can be fit to support your vaginal walls, and surgery. Many of today’s surgeries are very non-invasive and can be done as an outpatient’.