Troubles mictionnels et accès aux toilettes chez les enfants scolarisés : enquête dans l’Académie de Toulouse

Abstract

Not urinating regularly, voluntarily restraining oneself at school promotes the occurrence of voiding disorders.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of such disorders in elementary schools (students from 1st to 5th grade) and analyze the role of access to school toilets on voiding habits.

Method: Observational, descriptive epidemiological study during the 2017-2018 school year by electronic questionnaire with parents of pupils attending elementary school.

Results: 2119 questionnaires were analyzed. The graders sex ratio was 1.07 (1087 boys). 410 families (19%) were classified as "popular" class. First, second and third graders represented 60% of the enrollment (N = 1273). Overall use of school toilets was 87% and 69% of students had appropriate use for urine. The main obstacles to their use were lack of hygiene and comfort (51%), lack of security or privacy (33%), limited accessibility (28%). The overall prevalence of urinary elimination disorders was 9%. Girls had more inappropriate use of the toilet for urine (36% vs 27%, OR 1.5, P = 0.0004). The factors associated with urinary elimination disorders were: not using the toilet (13% vs 9 %, OR 1.5, P = 0.04), being a girl (14% vs 5%, OR 3.5, P < 0.0001), belonging to the working class (14% vs 8% OR 1.8, P = 0.0008).

Conclusion: This situation, which is a long-denounced major public health problem, mainly affects girls and also reveals social inequalities in the use of school toilets.