URINARY AND INTESTINAL SYMPTOMS IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

Objective: survey the occurrence of urinary and intestinal symptoms in children from public elementary schools in the capital of Paraná. Method: quantitative, exploratory-descriptive and cross-sectional study. Sample of parents/ guardians who completed the following instruments: Dysfunctional Voiding Scoring System; Rome IV criteria; Bristol scale. Analysis performed by IBM SPSS Statistics v.20.0. Data were collected from August to October 2019. Inclusion criteria were the child being enrolled and regularly attending elementary school and the delivery of the completed or partially completed questionnaire. Results: 458 questionnaires were delivered. Of those fully completed, 51.9% were girls, and the age was 7.7 years; 83% of the children had some urinary and/or intestinal symptoms of low severity. There was no significant difference in symptoms between genders, and with a significant increase in severity in children aged 7 years and under. Most prevalent symptoms: reduced voiding frequency, reduced defecation frequency, defecation effort, voiding urgency and containment maneuvers; 39.6% of the children had Functional Intestinal Constipation. Bladder and bowel dysfunction in 35 children, the highest prevalence in females. Conclusion: high occurrence of urinary and intestinal symptoms in children. The most prevalent symptom was constipation.