Results of a Questionnaire Evaluating Different Aspects of Personal and Familial Situation, and the Methods of Potty-training in Two Groups of Children with a Different Outcome of Bladder Control

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Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the family situation, personal behaviour and current micturition habits, the time of beginning and the method of potty-training in two groups of children with different outcomes of bladder control. Material and Methods: Parents of 140 children, between 7 and 15 years old, filled in a questionnaire comprising 43 questions. They were divided into a symptom group ( n = 73) and a symptom-free group ( n = 67) according to the outcome of bladder control. Results: Parents remembered clearly the method of training and the time of starting the potty-training to achieve continence in their child, and the exact age at which these objectives were achieved. There was some confusion regarding the term incontinence: the majority of the parents (70%) considered their child to be continent in spite of day-wetting several times a week. All children with urge syndrome who had undergone a urodynamic investigation ( n = 50) had an objective functional bladder disorder. Conclusions: Methods of training differed between the groups with and without lasting problems. The symptom group started training at a later age, had more tendency to punish and were more demanding when micturition did not start readily. The findings from the questionnaire strengthen the hypothesis that urge syndrome can be due to poor methods of potty-training. Very few parents searched spontaneously for help, which should prompt practitioners and paediatricians to be more alert to this problem.

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