Identifying Targets for Innovation in Amazon Reviews of Bedwetting Alarms: Thematic Analysis

Nocturnal enuresis (NE) is a frequent diagnosis in pediatric and adolescent populations with an estimated prevalence of around 15% at the age of 6 years. NE can have a substantial impact on multiple health domains. Bedwetting alarms, which typically consist of a sensor and moisture-activated alarm, are a common treatment.

This study aimed to determine areas of satisfaction versus dissatisfaction reported by the parents and caregivers of children using current bedwetting alarms.

Using the search term "bedwetting alarms" on the Amazon marketplace, products with >300 reviews were included. For each product, the 5 reviews ranked the "most helpful" for each star category were selected for analysis. Meaning extraction method was applied to identify major themes and subthemes. A percent skew was calculated by summing the total number of mentions of each subtheme,+1 for a positive mention, 0 for a neutral mention, and -1 for a negative mention, and dividing this total by the number of reviews in which that particular subtheme was observed. Subanalyses were performed for age and gender.

Of 136 products identified, 10 were evaluated based on the selection criteria. The main themes identified across products were long-term concerns, marketing, alarm systems, and device mechanics and features. The subthemes identified as future targets for innovation included alarm accuracy, volume variability, durability, user-friendliness, and adaptability to girls. In general, durability, alarm accuracy, and comfort were the most negatively skewed subthemes (with a negative skew of -23.6%, -20.0%, and -12.4% respectively), which are indicative of potential areas for improvement. Effectiveness was the only substantially positively skewed subtheme (16.8%). Alarm sound and device features were positively skewed for older children, whereas ease of use had a negative skew for younger children. Girls and their caretakers reported negative experiences with devices that featured cords, arm bands, and sensor pads.

This analysis provides an innovation roadmap for future device design to improve patient and caregiver satisfaction and compliance with bedwetting alarms. Our results highlight the need for additional options in alarm sound features, as children of different ages have divergent preferences in this domain. Additionally, girls and their parents and caretakers provided more negative overall reviews regarding the range of current device features compared to boys, indicating a potential focus area for future development. The percent skew showed that subthemes were often more negatively skewed toward girls, with the ease of use being -10.7% skewed for boys versus -20.5% for girls, and comfort being -7.1% skewed for boys versus -29.4% for girls. Put together, this review highlights multiple device features that are targets for innovation to ensure translational efficacy regardless of age, gender, or specific family needs.