International Journal of General Medicine (Dec 2021)
Efficacy of Standardized Rehabilitation in the Treatment of Diastasis Rectus Abdominis in Postpartum Women
Abstract
Jing Hu,1,* Juanfen Gu,1,* Zhiyan Yu,1 Xianxu Yang,1 Jian Fan,1 Lingying You,1 Qinyan Hua,1 Yuting Zhao,1 Yuerong Yan,1 Weiwei Bai,2 Zipeng Xu,3 Lina You,1 Chaobo Chen3,4 1Department of Postpartum Rehabilitation Center, Xishan People’s Hospital of Wuxi City, Wuxi, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Ultrasound, Xishan People’s Hospital of Wuxi City, Wuxi, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of General Surgery, Xishan People’s Hospital of Wuxi City, Wuxi, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Immunology, Ophthalmology and ORL, Complutense University School of Medicine, Madrid, 28040, Spain*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Lina You; Chaobo Chen Tel +86 13812052853; +86 13585000831Email [email protected]; [email protected]: The incidence of diastasis rectus abdominis (DRA) in parturients is continuously increasing, which may cause uncomfortable and affect the quality of life. The present study aims to retrospectively summarize the experience and efficacy in the treatment of DRA via standardized rehabilitation procedures in Eastern China.Methods: This retrospective study included the parturients with DRA admitted to the Xishan People’s Hospital of Wuxi between January 2017 and May 2021. Patients were separated into standardized rehabilitation group (SR) and non-standardized rehabilitation group (non-SR). The outcomes were the change in rectus abdominis separation and Physical Functioning Scale (PFS). Measurement data were compared between the two groups, and multivariate linear regression was used to analyze the factors associated with the standardized rehabilitation process. P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.Results: Among a total of 294 patients with DRA who were included in the study, 171 patients were treated with SR (SR), and the other 123 patients were treated without SR process (non-SR). Compared with non-SR, the separation of the rectus abdominis was significantly reduced in SR after standardized rehabilitation treatment (p value < 0.0001). The multiple linear regression model analysis results suggested that standardized rehabilitation was an independent factor influencing the prognosis of DRA in parturients (p < 0.0001). In addition, the quality of life of the study group was significantly improved (p < 0.0001).Conclusion: Standardized rehabilitation method revealed high efficiency in treating DRA in postpartum women and could improve the quality of life of parturients.Keywords: diastasis rectus abdominis, postpartum women, rehabilitation, Physical Functioning Scale
