Exploring the Benefits of Pelvic Floor Muscle Training on Bladder, Bowel, and Sexual Function in People With Spinal Cord Injury

Participants will be asked to respond to 22 questions about how urinary incontinence impacts their quality of life using a 5-point scale with values ranging from 1 (extremely) to 5 (not at all). The questionnaire probes three subdomains of how incontinence may affect quality of life: avoidance and limiting behavior, psychosocial impact, and social embarrassment.

Participants will be asked to respond to 24 questions regarding the severity of their bladder symptoms secondary to neurological injury. Questions cover three subdomains: incontinence, storage and voiding, and consequences.

Participants will be asked to record information regarding their fluid intake (i.e., time, volume, and type) and voids (i.e., time, volume, leaks, and pad change) for three days. The investigators will use the combined information on intake and voids to make a clinical summary of the participants urinary function.

Participants will be asked to how long their bowel movements take, and what (if any) aids they used to complete the bowel movement (e.g. suppository, laxatives, digital stimulation/evacuation, etc).

Participants will be asked to complete the NBDS which asks 11 questions to clinically assess the severity of their bowel dysfunction symptoms. Results of this questionnaire provide a score from 0 to 47, where a higher score represents more severe bowel symptoms.

Male participants will be asked to complete the IIEF questionnaire which askes 15 questions to clinically assess sexual health in 5 domains: erectile function (possible score of 0-30), orgasmic function (possible score of 0-10), sexual desire (possible score of 0-10), intercourse satisfaction (possible score of 0-15), overall satisfaction (possible score of 0-10). In all domains, a higher score represents more severe sexual dysfunction.

Female participants will be asked to complete the FSFI questionnaire which askes 19 questions to clinically assess sexual health in 6 domains: desire (possible score of 1.2-6), arousal (possible score of 0-6), lubrication (possible score of 0-6), orgasm (possible score of 0-6), satisfaction (possible score of 0.8-6), and pain (possible score of 0-6). In all domains, a higher score represents a less sexual dysfunction.

Male and female participants will both be asked to complete their sex-specific version of this questionnaire. This questionnaire asks respondents to rate 11 statements (male, possible score of 11-66) or 18 statements (female, possible score of 18-108) according to how much they agree or disagree with it. For both the male and female version of the questionnaire, a higher score represents better sexual quality of life.

PFM function (i.e., endurance and motor control) will be assessed using surface electromyography (EMG). Disposable surface electrodes will be placed perianally to record from the pelvic floor muscles, and other electrodes will be placed over the relevant muscles in the trunk and legs. Participants will be asked to attempt various contractions of their pelvic floor muscles including a maximal, isolated pelvic floor contraction; a sustained pelvic floor contraction to assess endurance; and a rapid contract-relaxation task to assess motor control.

Researchers will ask participants about their perceived effectiveness of verbal instructions and feedback strategies used in the pelvic floor muscle training sessions for facilitating voluntary activation of the pelvic floor.

The investigators will assess the connection of the neural pathways between the brain and pelvic floor using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). TMS will be delivered over the primary motor cortex in the brain, and motor evoked potentials (MEPs) will be recorded using surface electromyography from the pelvic floor. Participants will be instruction to maintain a sub-maximal contraction of the pelvic floor during the experiment, while TMS pulses are delivered at a variety of intensities.

Pudendal nerve function will be assessed through an somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) assessment. Non-painful electrical stimulations of up to 1ms in duration will be delivered to the pudendal nerve via the electrodes placed over the genitals while the investigators simultaneously use an electroencephalography (EEG) cap to record from the somatosensory cortex.

Pelvic floor muscle function will be assessed through transperineal ultrasound. An ultrasound probe will be placed on the perineum to visualize the pelvic floor and other relevant pelvic structures (e.g. bladder, urethra, vaginal canal, sphincters, pelvic bones). Ultrasound images and recordings will be taken while the participant is at rest and as they attempt PFM contractions.