{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,3]],"date-time":"2026-10-03T23:52:27Z","timestamp":1791071547987,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,7]],"date-time":"2022-07-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1657152000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Pelvic floor disorders are common and of concern, as the majority of maternity healthcare providers seldom discuss this issue with patients compared to other antenatal issues. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and to assess the knowledge and awareness of pelvic floor disorder (PFD) among pregnant women in a tertiary centre in Malaysia. We also aim to assess the association between women\u2019s risk factors regarding their knowledge and awareness of pelvic floor disorder so that primary prevention strategies can be planned, initiated and implemented in the future. This is a cross-sectional study with a total of four hundred twenty-four pregnant women that were recruited over a 6-month duration from May to November 2017 in a tertiary centre in Malaysia. The Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory (PFDI-20) was used to evaluate pelvic floor distress symptoms during pregnancy, namely urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse and faecal incontinence. A validated Prolapse and Incontinence Knowledge Questionnaire (PIKQ), which consists of 24 items, was used to assess respondents\u2019 knowledge about urinary incontinence (UI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP). A total of 450 participants were approached, but 424 participants agreed to participate, showing a response rate of 94.3%. The median age was 31.5 years old, and 33.3% were primiparity. Overall, 46.1% of pregnant women had at least one symptom of pelvic floor disorder during pregnancy. Of these, 62.3% experienced urinary incontinence, 41.1% experienced symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse, and 37.8% experienced symptoms of faecal incontinence. The overall median score of PIKQ was 12.0 (8.0, 17.0). The median score for PIKQ\u2014UI was 7.0 (5.0, 9.0) and the median score for PIKQ\u2014POP was 6.0 (4.0, 8.0). There were 341 (80.4%) pregnant women that had a low level of knowledge in UI, and 191 (45.0%) had a low level of knowledge in POP. Having a tertiary level of education and receiving antenatal specialist care were both associated with better proficiency in both the PIKQ\u2014UI (p &lt; 0.001) and PIKQ\u2014POP (p &lt; 0.001) subscales. Pelvic floor disorder during pregnancy was common. A knowledge of pelvic floor disorder was lacking among pregnant women in this study. Having a tertiary education and receiving antenatal specialist care were both associated with better knowledge proficiency. This study hopefully serves as a basic platform for future educational programs to bridge the knowledge gaps in PFD among pregnant women.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph19148314","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,7]],"date-time":"2022-07-07T22:11:47Z","timestamp":1657231907000},"page":"8314","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Prevalence, Knowledge and Awareness of Pelvic Floor Disorder among Pregnant Women in a Tertiary Centre, Malaysia"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Mukhtar","family":"Nur Farihan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Hospital Tuanku Fauziah, Jalan Tun Abd Razak, Kangar 01000, Perlis, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Beng Kwang","family":"Ng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Yaacob Latiff, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Su Ee","family":"Phon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Yaacob Latiff, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohamed Ismail","family":"Nor Azlin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Yaacob Latiff, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5544-0279","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abdul Ghani","family":"Nur Azurah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Yaacob Latiff, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1497-8398","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pei Shan","family":"Lim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Yaacob Latiff, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"137","DOI":"10.1002\/nau.22922","article-title":"An International Urogynecological Association (IUGA)\/International Continence Society (ICS) Joint Report on the Terminology for Female Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP)","volume":"35","author":"Haylen","year":"2016","journal-title":"Neurourol. 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