Evaluating the relative frequency of bladder and bowel dysfunction (BBD) and its related factors in children under age 14 with a urinary tract infection (UTI) admitted to Yasuj teaching hospitals in 2019-2020

aims:Bladder and Bowel Dysfunction (BBD) can negatively affect a child's quality of life and self-confidence. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment of BBD are essential to prevent secondary morbidity, affecting kidney and bladder function and mental health. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of bladder-intestinal disorders in children with UTIs. Methods:The present study employed a cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical research method. The research population consisted of children under age 14 with a urinary tract infection (UTI) hospitalized in Yasuj teaching hospitals in 2019-2020. The subjects were selected via a census method. The data were collected, encoded, and analyzed via SPSS software at two levels of descriptive (media, mean, standard deviation, and frequency percentage) and inferential (chi-squared test). The normality of the mean distribution was examined using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. All tests considered a significant level of 0.05. Results:The most common symptoms of BBD were constipation + urinary retention (14.6%), constipation (12.6%), constipation + urinary incontinence + fecal incontinence + urinary retention (12.6%) and urinary retention (11.7%). Urinary incontinence was more common in girls. Age had a significant correlation with infection recurrence, constipation, fecal incontinence, and urinary incontinence. Discussion:BBD should be investigated and evaluated when treating children with febrile UTI. Due to the relatively high prevalence of asymptomatic UTIs in children, treatment, and prevention of infection and screening in children become more significant. As the results show, further studies and estimation of UTIs' financial and psychological burden on patients and society should be conducted to examine the effectiveness of preventive treatment in children