The Efficacy of the WeChat App Combined with Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercise for the Urinary Incontinence after Radical Prostatectomy

Objective. This research is aimed at studying the effect of the WeChat app combined with pelvic floor muscle exercise (PFME) on urinary incontinence (UI) for patients treated with radical prostatectomy (RP). Patients and Methods. We retrospectively reviewed 112 patients who not only had done open RP or laparoscopic RP in our institution but also had sufficient data: preoperative information and more than one year of follow-up records. All the patients received instructions in correct pelvic floor muscle contraction and were encouraged to train the pelvic floor muscle. 58 patients, who were offered additional training guide by the WeChat app after hospital, were divided into group A, while the other 54 patients, who did PFME alone after hospital, were divided into group B. All the patients underwent a 24 h pad test at 3 days, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after catheter removal. The differences in preoperative information and the results of the 24 h pad test in the follow-up, from the two groups of patients, were compared statistically. And we defined urinary continence as 0 g at a 24 h pad test. Results. No statistically significant difference in background variable in patients of group A and group B was found. On a 24 h pad test (g), group A had better results compared to group B: 254 +/- 76 vs 293 +/- 86 (1 month, p<0.05), 76 +/- 47 vs 98 +/- 58 (3 months, p<0.05), 23 +/- 31 vs 48 +/- 41 (6 months, p<0.001), 5 +/- 3 vs 11 +/- 5 (12 months, p<0.001). On the urinary continence, 31% were continent in group A vs 13% in group B (3 months, p<0.05). And it increased to 50% in group A compared to 24% in group B (6 months, p<0.01). Conclusion. Compared to doing PFME alone, the WeChat app combined with pelvic floor muscle training can decrease urine leakage and increase the number of urinary continence after radical prostatectomy.