Self-gratification Habits among Children Under Five Years of Age: A Prospective Cohort Study
Introduction: Self-gratification or masturbation is a normal sexual behaviour; however, masturbation in childhood is less commonly addressed in literature. Aim: To describe the clinical profile of the children diagnosed with self-gratification condition. Materials and Methods: This prospective...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/13980/44547_CE[Ra1]_F(KM)_PF1(Chr_SL)_PFA(SL)_PN(SL).pdf |
| Summary: | Introduction: Self-gratification or masturbation is a normal
sexual behaviour; however, masturbation in childhood is less
commonly addressed in literature.
Aim: To describe the clinical profile of the children diagnosed
with self-gratification condition.
Materials and Methods: This prospective cohort study
recruited all cases diagnosed to have the self-gratification
condition presenting to the outpatient clinic in the Department of
Paediatric Medicine, Burdwan Medical College, Burdwan, West
Bengal, India during the period- January 2014 to December
2019. Diagnosis was made from history, home videotapes and
sometimes by direct observation of the act during hospital stay.
All relevant data pertaining to demographic characteristics,
clinical presentation, investigations and treatment were collected
in case sheets and were analysed by simple descriptive statistics.
Results: Fifty-four patients were diagnosed to have the
condition. Among them, 29 (53.70%) were girls and 25 (46.30%)
were boys. The mean age at first symptoms was 20.98±9.31
months (range 3 months to 3 years 4 months). The average age
at diagnosis was 26.16±11.35 months (varied from 4 months
to 3 years 11 months). The mean frequency of events was
10.31±5.10 times per week, and the mean duration was
9.83±5.98 minutes. Events occurred mostly when children were
left alone and bored (n=34, 62.97%). Usual presentations were:
rocking in prone position (n=24, 44.44%), intermittent dystonic
posturing of the crossed legs (n=23, 42.59%), direct genital
manipulation (n=3, 5.56%) and others (n=4, 7.40%)). Two
children had been previously misdiagnosed as having definite
epilepsy. In 51 cases (94.44%) home videos were available
which served as invaluable tools allowing confident diagnosis.
Results of urine and stool examination were normal. MRI and
EEG performed on two children with suspected epilepsy were
reported normal, and antiepileptic drugs were stopped in both.
Sixteen children (29.63%) were sent for behavioural therapy
and all of them responded well in next one year.
Conclusion: Gratification habits are not uncommon in children
and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of
epilepsy and other paroxysmal events in early childhood. Home
video recording of these actions can be a very influential mean
to help in diagnosis and to avoid needless investigations and
treatments. |
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| ISSN: | 2249-782X 0973-709X |