Dear Editor,

I am writing to express my concern about terminology used in our journal-Journal of Women's Health Physical Therapy. I am the editor-in-chief of the International Continence Society Wiki, a committee member of the ICS Standardization Steering Committee, and a contributing member of the working group on Terms in Conservative Management of Female Urinary Incontinence. These groups are working toward standardizing terms used in the field of continence and pelvic health across languages, countries, and professions. This is essential to producing clear research with terms understood by all. One issue is the profession-specific terms such as "pelvic floor physical therapy (PFPT)" as used in the report "Pelvic Floor Muscle Evaluation Findings in Patients With Urinary Incontinence" (J Womens Health Phys Ther. 2014;38(2):90-94). This term means nothing more than therapy provided by a physical therapist (PT) in the pelvic area. It does not designate what was provided. Furthermore, the sentence "PFPT is effective for the treatment of urinary incontinence (UI) and significantly improves patients' overall quality of life" references an article about pelvic floor muscle (PFM) exercises published in a nursing journal with no reference to the fact the therapy was provided by a PT. Even more upsetting is the fact that non-PTs in other countries may think they can provide "PFPT" and subsequently publish reports with this term, confusing readers into thinking a PT provided the therapy when in fact it was another professional. PFM exercises are effective but not specific to PT or any other profession. The published report on conservative management terms will include the definition of physiotherapy by the World Confederation for Physical Therapy "service only provided by, or under the direction and supervision of a physiotherapist," with the recommendation to describe the specific treatment, that is, PFM training rather than using the term "pelvic floor physiotherapy/physical therapy." If we are to be accepted on the international research stage, it is essential that our journal use proper terms in publication of these therapies: "pelvic floor muscle exercises provided by a physical therapist or treatment of urinary incontinence provided by a physical therapist." All reviewers should be provided with resources to ensure standard terms are being used. There are currently many published standard term reports and several key papers to be published in the next year. All papers can be found on the ICS Standardization Steering Committee page at http://www.ics.org/committees/standardisation. I am available as a resource for this issue and expect it will be adopted immediately.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth R. Shelly, PT, DPT, WCS, BCB-PMD