Attitudes of enuretic children towards their illness

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Psychology
• Child Health
• Chronic Illness Management

Background:

• Enuresis, or bedwetting, is a common childhood condition impacting children's emotional well-being.
• Understanding children's attitudes toward chronic illnesses is crucial for effective management and support.
• Previous research has not fully explored the specific attitudes of enuretic children compared to peers with other chronic conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the attitudes of children diagnosed with enuresis toward their condition.
• To investigate the correlation between enuretic children's attitudes and clinical/demographic factors.
• To compare the attitudes of enuretic children with those of children suffering from asthma and chronic heart disease.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Polish version of the Child Attitude Toward Illness Scale (CATIS) for attitude assessment.
• Conducted structured interviews with parents to gather demographic and medical data.
• Included 50 children with enuresis (aged 8-18) and reference groups of children with asthma (n=60) and chronic heart disease (n=40).

Main Results:

• Enuretic children exhibited significantly more negative attitudes toward their illness than children with asthma or chronic heart disease.
• No significant correlation was found between attitude scores and enuresis type, age, family history, frequency, or treatment failures.
• Girls reported significantly lower (more negative) attitude scores than boys, particularly in the older age group (14-18 years).

Conclusions:

• Enuretic children possess more negative attitudes regarding their illness compared to children with other chronic conditions.
• Attitudes toward enuresis are primarily influenced by gender, with adolescent girls displaying the most negative outlook.
• Clinical and demographic factors, apart from gender, did not significantly correlate with children's attitudes toward enuresis.