What do systematic reviews say?

Electrical stimulation vs drug therapy

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  3 studies · 336 participants
  Low

Electrical stimulation vs drug therapy

Electrical stimulation may leads to lower adverse effects ‐ ES versus oxybutynin compared with drug therapy (low certainty).

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.11 [0.01, 0.84]
  2 studies · 79 participants
  Low

Electrical stimulation vs drug therapy

Electrical stimulation probably leads to lower adverse effects ‐ ES versus tolterodine compared with drug therapy (moderate certainty).

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.12 [0.05, 0.27]
  4 studies · 200 participants
  Moderate

Electrical stimulation vs drug therapy

It is very uncertain whether electrical stimulation changes adverse effects ‐ ES versus solifenacin succinate compared with drug therapy (very low certainty).

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.09 [0.01, 1.6]
  1 study · 100 participants
  Very low

Electrical stimulation vs Placebo / sham solution

Electrical stimulation probably leads to higher participants cured or improved compared with placebo or sham treatment (moderate certainty).

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 2.26 [1.85, 2.77]
  10 studies · 677 participants
  Moderate

Electrical stimulation vs Placebo / sham solution

Electrical stimulation showed no clear difference in participants with improvement in urgency urinary incontinence compared with placebo or sham treatment (low certainty).

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 5.03 [0.28, 89.88]
  2 studies · 242 participants
  Low

Electrical stimulation vs Placebo / sham solution

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  7 studies · 627 participants
  Low

Electrical stimulation vs Placebo / sham solution

Electrical stimulation showed no clear difference in adverse effects compared with placebo or sham treatment (low certainty).

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.24 [0.84, 1.83]
  3 studies · 450 participants
  Low

Electrical stimulation vs pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT)

Electrical stimulation probably leads to higher participants cured or improved compared with pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) (moderate certainty).

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.6 [1.19, 2.14]
  3 studies · 195 participants
  Moderate

Electrical stimulation (ES) once a week vs ES twice a week

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  1 study · 37 participants
  Very low

Electrical stimulation (ES) once a week vs ES twice a week

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  0 studies · 0 participants
  GRADE not reported

Electrical stimulation (ES) once a week vs ES three times a week

It is very uncertain whether electrical stimulation (ES) once a week changes participants cured or improved ( compared with ES three times a week (very low certainty).

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.97 [0.6, 1.57]
  1 study · 35 participants
  Very low

Electrical stimulation (ES) once a week vs ES three times a week

It is very uncertain whether electrical stimulation (ES) once a week changes participants with improvement in urgency urinary incontinence ( compared with ES three times a week (very low certainty).

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.8 [0.29, 2.21]
  1 study · 22 participants
  Very low

Electrical stimulation (ES) once a week vs ES three times a week

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  1 study · 35 participants
  Very low

Electrical stimulation (ES) once a week vs ES three times a week

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  1 study · 35 participants
  Very low

Electrical stimulation plus drug therapy vs drug therapy alone

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  0 studies · 0 participants
  GRADE not reported

Electrical stimulation plus drug therapy vs drug therapy alone

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  0 studies · 0 participants
  GRADE not reported

Electrical stimulation plus drug therapy vs drug therapy alone

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  2 studies · 248 participants
  Low

Electrical stimulation plus drug therapy vs drug therapy alone

It is very uncertain whether electrical stimulation plus drug therapy changes adverse effects compared with drug therapy alone (very low certainty).

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted electrodes for overactive bladder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.45 [0.04, 4.55]
  1 study · 38 participants
  Very low

Electrical stimulation vs No active treatment (control)

Electrical stimulation probably leads to higher cure: number of women with self‐reported continence compared with no active treatment (moderate certainty).

• Electrical stimulation with non‐implanted devices for stress urinary incontinence in women 2017 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 2.31 [1.06, 5.02]
  2 studies · 101 participants
  Moderate