⚡ Quick Summary
This scoping review identified 66 innovative, technology-driven tools for managing pediatric urinary incontinence, highlighting the need for modern solutions that resonate with today’s digital-native children. The findings suggest that these tools can enhance engagement, compliance, and patient satisfaction while addressing significant gaps in traditional treatment methods.
🔍 Key Details
- 📊 Total studies reviewed: 66 articles
- 👶 Age group: Pediatric patients (aged ≤18 years)
- 🧩 Focus: Noninvasive, technology-based interventions
- ⚙️ Categories of tools: Digital self-management, serious games, reminder technology, educational media, telehealth, and enuresis alarms
- 📅 Review date: March 2022
🔑 Key Takeaways
- 📱 Digital tools are emerging as effective alternatives to traditional methods for managing urinary incontinence in children.
- 🎮 Serious games and gamification strategies are gaining traction, with 11% of the reviewed studies focusing on this approach.
- 📅 Telehealth and remote monitoring tools accounted for 20% of the studies, showcasing the shift towards digital health solutions.
- 🔔 Enuresis alarms represent a significant portion (32%) of the tools identified, with novel configurations enhancing their effectiveness.
- 💡 Educational media plays a crucial role, with video content being particularly effective in engaging young patients.
- 🧑⚕️ Improved compliance and patient satisfaction were reported benefits of using these innovative tools.
- 🔍 Research gaps were identified, indicating a need for more rigorous studies to evaluate the effectiveness of these tools.
- 🌐 Future tools should focus on connected, adaptive, and personalized approaches to meet stakeholder needs.
📚 Background
Urinary incontinence is a common issue affecting approximately 7% to 10% of children during the day and 9% to 12% at night. Traditional treatment methods primarily involve lifestyle advice and behavioral strategies, which often suffer from low motivation and adherence rates. As children today are increasingly digital natives, there is a pressing need for innovative, technology-driven solutions that resonate with their experiences and preferences.
🗒️ Study
This scoping review aimed to map out the landscape of digital tools available for managing pediatric urinary incontinence. The researchers conducted a comprehensive search across multiple databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library, to identify relevant studies focusing on noninvasive, technology-based interventions for children with bladder and bowel dysfunctions.
📈 Results
The analysis revealed six main categories of tools: digital self-management, serious games, reminder technology, educational media, telehealth and remote patient monitoring, and enuresis alarm innovations. Notably, nearly one-third of the studies focused on nocturnal enuresis, indicating a significant area of concern within pediatric urinary incontinence management.
🌍 Impact and Implications
The findings from this review underscore the potential of digital tools to transform the management of pediatric urinary incontinence. By enhancing engagement and compliance, these innovative solutions can lead to improved patient outcomes and satisfaction. However, the identified research gaps highlight the necessity for further studies to rigorously assess the effectiveness of these tools and address the multifaceted challenges faced in this area of pediatric health care.
🔮 Conclusion
This scoping review illustrates the remarkable innovation occurring in the field of pediatric urinary incontinence management. The identified digital tools not only offer promising alternatives to traditional methods but also pave the way for future advancements that are more aligned with the needs of young patients. As we move forward, it is essential to continue exploring and validating these technologies to ensure they effectively address the challenges faced by children and their families.
💬 Your comments
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Innovative, Technology-Driven, Digital Tools for Managing Pediatric Urinary Incontinence: Scoping Review.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Urinary incontinence affects approximately 7% to 10% of children during the day and 9% to 12% of children during the night. Treatment mainly involves lifestyle advice and behavioral methods, but motivation and adherence are low. Traditional tools such as pen-and-paper solutions may feel outdated and no longer meet the needs of today’s “digital native” children. Meanwhile, digital interventions have already shown effectiveness in other pediatric health care areas.
OBJECTIVE: This scoping review aimed to identify and map innovative, technology-driven, digital tools for managing pediatric urinary incontinence.
METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched in March 2022 without date restrictions, complemented by cross-referencing. Studies were eligible if they focused on pediatric patients (aged ≤18 years) with bladder and bowel dysfunctions and explored noninvasive, technology-based interventions such as digital health, remote monitoring, and gamification. Studies on adults, invasive treatments, and conventional methods without tangible tools were excluded. Gray literature was considered, but non-English-language, inaccessible, or result-lacking articles were excluded. A formal critical appraisal was not conducted as the focus was on mapping existing tools rather than evaluating effectiveness. Data analysis combined descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis, categorizing tools through iterative coding and team discussions.
RESULTS: In total, 66 articles were included, with nearly one-third (21/66, 32%) focusing on nocturnal enuresis. Our analysis led to the identification of six main categories of tools: (1) digital self-management (7/66, 11%); (2) serious games (7/66, 11%); (3) reminder technology (6/66, 9%); (4) educational media (12/66, 18%), further divided into video (5/12, 42%) and other media (7/12, 58%); (5) telehealth and remote patient monitoring (13/66, 20%), with subcategories of communication (5/13, 38%) and technological advances (8/13, 62%); and (6) enuresis alarm innovations (21/66, 32%), further divided into novel configurations (8/21, 38%) and prevoid alarms (13/21, 62%).
CONCLUSIONS: The field of pediatric urinary incontinence demonstrates a considerable level of innovation, as evidenced by the inclusion of 66 studies. Many tools identified in this review were described as promising and feasible alternatives to traditional methods. These tools were reported to enhance engagement, improve compliance, and increase patient satisfaction and preference while also having the potential to save time for health care providers. However, this review also identified gaps in research, highlighting the need for more rigorous research to better assess the tools’ effectiveness and address the complex, multifaceted challenges of pediatric urinary incontinence management. Limitations of this review include restricting the search to 3 databases, excluding non-English-language articles, the broad scope, and single-reviewer screening, although frequent team discussions ensured rigor. We propose that future tools should integrate connected, adaptive, and personalized approaches that align with stakeholder needs, guided by a multidisciplinary, human-centered framework combining both qualitative and quantitative insights.
Author: [‘Bladt L’, ‘Vermeulen J’, ‘Vermandel A’, ‘De Win G’, ‘Van Campenhout L’]
Journal: Interact J Med Res
Citation: Bladt L, et al. Innovative, Technology-Driven, Digital Tools for Managing Pediatric Urinary Incontinence: Scoping Review. Innovative, Technology-Driven, Digital Tools for Managing Pediatric Urinary Incontinence: Scoping Review. 2025; 14:e66336. doi: 10.2196/66336