Lower urinary tract dysfunction in children. What do pre-school teachers know about it?
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the basic knowledge of pre-school teachers who deal with children between the ages of 4 and 7 years, who present signs of lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD).


METHODS
We performed a survey with 50 teachers from 9 private schools working with pre-school children. The criteria for selection were if teachers were certified or non-certified elementary school teachers - NCEST and the amount of professional experience.


RESULTS
Thirty-three teachers considered that the normal daily urinary frequency should be from 4 to 7 times. Two of the 50 teachers considered it normal to urinate less than 4 times per day and 15 teachers considered more than 7 times per day as normal. There was no difference between the 2 categories of certified or NCEST nor between those with more or less than five years of professional experience. Thirty-three percent believed that to urinate more than 4 times during a class period (4-5 hours) could indicate a urinary problem. There was a statistically significant difference among the certified and NCEST but not in terms of time of professional experience. If during this period the child would not ask to urinate, only 18% considered that as an indication of urinary problem. When asked about the symptoms that would indicate urinary urgency and urge incontinence, only 24% of the teachers connected it with urinary problem. There was no difference in terms of professional background or professional experience in these 2 last analyses.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data shows evidences that private pre-schools teachers are not well informed of the clinical manifestation of LUTD.
Lordelo
Patricia
P
Department of Pediatric Urology, School of Medicine, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
Maron
Fabio
F
Barros
Daniela G
DG
Barroso
Danilo V
DV
Bessa
Jose
J
Barroso
Ubirajara
U
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005178:Faculty; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D012015:Reference Standards; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014554:Urination / Q000502:physiology; D014555:Urination Disorders