The Pelvic Floor Disorders Network: Evolution Over Two Decades of Female Pelvic Floor Research

Importance: This review aimed to describe research initiatives, evolution, and processes of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-supported Pelvic Floor Disorders Network (PFDN). This may be of interest and inform researchers wishing to conduct multisite coordinated research initiatives as well as to provide perspective to all urogynecologists regarding how the PFDN has evolved and functions.

Study design: Principal investigators of several PFDN clinical sites and Data Coordinating Center describe more than 20 years of development and maturation of the PFDN.

Results: Over two decades, the PFDN used an intentionally driven approach to answering clinically important questions to inform the surgical and nonsurgical care of women with pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) including pelvic organ prolapse, urinary incontinence, and fecal incontinence. From its inception, the PFDN refined network procedures and processes affecting trial design, protocol development, and standardization of outcomes and publications. This strategy resulted in a credible, robust, and productive portfolio of randomized clinical trials, secondary analyses, prospective cohort, and supplementary studies emphasizing the use of validated patient-reported outcomes, longer-term outcomes, an increase in translational science aims, and standardized long-term collection of adverse events.

Conclusions: The processes the PFDN has developed and implemented have led to impactful research initiatives in women's PFDs. Patient participants and research coordinators have been an integral part of this contribution. Through consistent funding and committed investigators, the state of science in the surgical and nonsurgical care and understanding of PFD pathophysiology has been advanced.