Effectiveness of an Online Health Education Program for Pediatric Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms

Urotherapy effectively treats pediatric lower urinary tract symptoms, but its delivery is limited in clinical settings. We examined the feasibility and effectiveness of Bladder Basics, a home-based, self-paced online bladder health education program, in improving symptoms and knowledge.

Children aged 5-10 years with bladder symptoms and their parents were recruited. All participants completed Bladder Basics over four weeks, with outcomes measured at baseline, 4 weeks, and 12 weeks. Feasibility was evaluated through recruitment, engagement, and post-assessment completion. Secondary outcomes included dysfunctional voiding symptom scores, parents' subjective improvement, care-seeking interest, bladder health knowledge, and self-efficacy. Analyses included paired t tests, Wilcoxon tests, sign tests, and McNemar's tests.

Of 70 families, 72% completed the program, 73% completed the 4-week survey, and 67% completed the 12-week survey. Symptom scores improved significantly: 32% at 4 weeks and 42% at 12 weeks. Of children initially screening positive for bladder symptoms, 39% fell below the cutoff score at 4 weeks and 55% at 12 weeks. 85% and 93% of parents reported child symptom improvements at 4 and 12 weeks. Parents reporting no need for clinic visits increased from 45% to 69% at 4 weeks. Knowledge of key urotherapy concepts was improved, such as peeing every 3 hours and bowel health awareness. Self-efficacy improved significantly, with a median increase of 4.6 points at 4 weeks (p = 0.018).

Bladder Basics improved bladder symptoms and knowledge and demonstrated potential for broader scalability with strong participant interest and high engagement.

NCT05852353.