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

Objective: 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.

Methods: 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.

Results: 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).

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

Clinical Trial Registration Number: NCT05852353.