Journal Title: تابستان 86
Article title: Assessment of the Knowledge of the Primary School Teachers about the Voiding Dysfunction of Students in the City of Urmia

Article PDF File:
Page From: 105 To: 116      
Article abstract:
Introduction & Objective: Pediatric surgeons and urologists when facing children with elimination disorders often listen to their parents for information regarding their toileting. Primary school teachers can be potential counselors that recognize and help children with dysfunctional voiding. Their lack of knowledge, on the other hand can worsen these children’s conditions. The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge of the primary school teachers about the voiding dysfunction of students in west azerbaijan province. Materials & Methods: The subjects of this study consisted of 101 primary school teachers with a mean age of 41±6.77 years from 12 schools in City of Urmia which were selected through multiple cluster sampling. In each selected school, all teachers completed a 21-item Farsi questionnaire, its validity and reliability had already been approved by our previous studies. All questionnaires were returned filled. Statistical tests were performed by Fisher’s exact, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal- Wallis tests. Results: Forty school teachers stated they had received some information about abnormal voiding and stooling. Only 9 teachers noted that their school does not have a school nurse. Ten teachers would pay a visit to students’ toilets once a day, but 80 teachers would almost never do that. Median number of toilets per school was 10 (1 to 12). As to the toilet sanitation, 19 teachers stated that they are “always clean”, 32 said that they are “clean at the start of the day”, 32 believed that “they become dirty progressively” and 18 said that they are “never clean”. In teachers’ opinion, short break time was the main reason for a permission to go to the toilet during class time, followed by the insufficient number of toilets, and as an excuse to leave the class. Forty-six teachers would offer set-times other than the breaks for the students to go to the toilet. In response to this question that what would you do if a student asked for the permission to leave during the class, 69 said they will grant the permission, 21 said they would rather ask to wait, 4 said they will accompany him/her to the toilet and only 6 said they would let the students leave on their will. As to the teachers’ attitude regarding the urinary frequency, urinary and fecal incontinence, 15, 24 and 26 of them had never encountered these problems, 28, 19 and 17 would notify the parents, and 44, 48 and 42 would notify the school nurse. Conclusions: The elementary school teachers’ attitude towards the abnormal voiding and stooling is not appropriate and informed. It seems that acquisition of information is gradual and by experience. Adding educational material regarding pediatric bladder and bowel function to primary school teachers’ college curriculum can shorten their learning curve and prepare them to confront these problems more efficiently. Pediatric surgeons and urologists and other primary care physicians can use the elementary school teachers knowledge for the benefit of more effective treatment plans.
Article KeyWords:
Voiding Dysfunction, School Teachers, Students
Article Authors:

	دكتر داراب مهـربان	First Author	Mehraban@TUMS.ac.ir
	دكتر ميتـرا موسوي	Other Author
	دكتر سعيد صمدزاده	Other Author
	دكتر مسعود صالحي	Other Author