Quantifying demographic, urological and behavioral characteristics of children with lower urinary tract symptoms

Abstract

Objective: This project examines the voiding and behavioral characteristics of children referred to a specialty voiding clinic, including the impact of incontinence on the child and family.

Patients and methods: A total of 351 new patients (aged 5-17 years) referred to our specialty voiding clinic completed background information, including demographics and medical history, a standardized voiding questionnaire, school history, and questions about child and family quality of life, prior to their first appointment.

Results: Patients are primarily female (53%) and Caucasian (70%) with a mean age of 9.5 years (range 5-17; SD=3.5). Of the patients, 25% were diagnosed with a mental or behavioral health problem. Mean urological symptom score was 12 (range 0-29). Higher symptom scores are associated with younger age, ethnic minority status, a mental health diagnosis, being on psychotropic medications, and a poor child and family quality of life. Families of children who are wet day and night reported a poorer quality of life as compared to the families of children who were daytime wetters or bedwetters only.

Conclusion: Symptom scores are associated with type of incontinence, social and quality of life variables. Collecting this baseline data will enable ongoing monitoring of progress for these complex patients.