ESPU Congress 2017 - Abstract book

319

19–22 APRIL, 2017, BARCELONA, SPAIN

14:10–14:20

S3-3 (LO)

PARENTAL PERCEPTION ON ELIMINATION SIGNALS

RELATED TO MICTURITION: A PILOT STUDY

Kelly VAN DER CRUYSSEN

, Stefan DE WACHTER

, Guido VAN HAL

Tinne VAN AGGELPOEL

and Alexandra VERMANDEL

1) University of Antwerp, Rehabilitation Sciences and Kinesiology, Antwerp, BELGIUM - 2) University of Antwerp,

Urology and urological rehabilitation, Antwerp, BELGIUM - 3) University of Antwerp, Social Medicine - Medical Sociology

and Health Policy, Antwerp, BELGIUM - 4) University of Antwerp, Rehabilitation Sciences and Kinesiology, Antwerp,

BELGIUM

PURPOSE

Signals made by an infant to communicate about the need and awareness of micturition are labeled

as elimination signals (ES). Elimination communication, using ES is more common used in develop-

ing countries. So the objective of this research is to determine the Western parental perception on

these ES compared to the raters ‘observation.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The voiding behavior of 32 non-toilet trained infants (16 wearing disposable diapers, 16 wearing

reusable diapers, aged 6 - 24 months) was observed and recorded. The infant was wearing a diaper

containing a light box that initiated to shine when becoming wet. This light could not be noticed by

the infant. During the observation, parents were asked to fill in a questionnaire on their infant’s void-

ing behavior.

RESULTS

Only twenty-five percent of the infants’ parents indicated that their infants occasionally displayed

ES. In contrast, ES were detected by the independent observers in 46,9% of the infants. Only

6,25% of the parents indicated that their infant displayed ES before micturition compared to 31.3%

of the raters. They were described as ‘interrupting their activity’, ‘having shivers over the back’ and

‘a worried or more concentrated gaze’. During voiding 15.6% of the parents detected ES whereas

34.4% of the raters reported them.

CONCLUSIONS

Western parents are not trained in recognizing ES. Knowledge of these ES will enable parents to

communicate with their infant. Further research should be undertaken to explore whether imple-

menting parent-child communication in toilet training will facilitate the development of toileting skills

and will advance the acquisition of bladder control.