Parents' awareness and knowledge of testicular torsion: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background:Testicular torsion (TT) is one of the most common emergencies in pediatric urology. Family awareness of this condition could lead to early diagnosis and intervention and salvage of the effected testicle. The purpose of this study is to assess parental awareness about TT and their source of knowledge. We also evaluated the response of the parents to their children's scrotal pain.Methods:A quantitative, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2017 to September 2017 at our institution. The study target were parents attending the pediatric urology clinic and the comparison group included parents attending the general pediatric clinic in the same period. We distributed a questionnaire and then compared the results in both groups.Results:A total of 200 parents participated in this study (100 parents from each clinic). Nineteen percent of pediatric urology clinic parents were aware and 14% of general pediatric clinic parents were aware about TT with no statistically significant difference observed (P = 0.341). The parents in urology clinic choose doctor as their main source of knowledge (42.1%), while in general pediatric clinic, doctor and through a friend as the main source of knowledge had the same percentage (28.6%). Response of the parents to their children's scrotal pain during working hours in urology and general pediatric clinics was to drive their children to the emergency room immediately with 85% and 82%, respectively. The response of the parents after working hours in both clinics did not show difference, with 83% of parents in pediatric urology clinic and 85% in general pediatric clinic driving their children immediately to the emergency room.Conclusion:TT in boys is a common problem we face as pediatric urologists and it may lead to testicular loss if not diagnosed and treated early. We found that the awareness of TT in children is low in our community and it is our responsibility to raise it to improve our children's well-being.

Parents' Awareness and Knowledge of Testicular Torsion in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia

“…Our results are consistent with those obtained in the Alyami et al study; it found that as the number of boys in the family increases, the parents' awareness of TT also increases [8]. Parents with only girls in the family will not directly be impacted, but if they were aware of it, they might share the knowledge with other parents who have boys in their family since several studies have demonstrated that parents who were aware of testicular torsion mostly learned about it via friends, relatives, and the internet, which stands as the most common source of knowledge [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”

“…A high-ridden testicle with an absent cremasteric reflex may be discovered on physical examination [7]. Detorsion within four to eight hours after symptom onset has typically been considered to be the ideal window of opportunity to salvage testicular function in individuals with testicular torsion [2,8].…”

“…Studies have been published on parents' awareness of testicular torsion in Saudi Arabia and around the world [8][9][10][11][12]. However, no studies have been conducted in the western region of Saudi Arabia to address parental knowledge and awareness of TT.…”

A multicenter study of acute testicular torsion in the time of COVID-19

“…The baseline rate of orchiectomy for testicular torsion is already high at 34% based on a large US study [ 1 ]. Similarly, low patient and family awareness of testicular torsion is very common with only 15-30% of patients having prior knowledge of torsion in survey studies [ 12 , 13 ]. In our study, this was even lower with only 5% (8/156) of patients having prior knowledge of torsion.…”

Ultrasound heterogeneity as an indicator of testicular salvage in testicular torsion: A single center experience

“…Alyami et al. [ 22 ] surveyed 200 parents and found that only 19% of the parents whose children were patients in the pediatric urology clinic and 14% in the general pediatrics clinic were aware of the condition and its consequences. Comparable results were also reported by Friedman et al.…”