Table 2:

Institutional Systems: Schools and Workplaces

Educational Sector

Restrictive Voiding Environments

At my school, like the situations, they have like this whole bathroom situation at school, like they have certain time periods for a certain class when you go to the bathroom and we only have two, so I think that sort of affects the routine of the bladder. (age 11–14)

We can’t go to the bathroom unless it’s after 9:30, and it’s only one person out of the class at a time. And, like, our bathroom is right near the office, so, if they look out the office, they’ll see a lot of people going in, some people have to go back to the classroom. (age 11–14)

I go to high school, and we can’t go to the bathroom the first 10 minutes and I’ll try to ask, but we have like a line and there’s students in every, in each period, who go to the bathroom and take a very long time. So I don’t have enough time to ask because the first 10 minutes, we don’t get to go and the last 10 minutes we don’t get to go, so I don’t go until the end of the day. So I hold it all day. (age 11–14)

Stress Imposed by Bathroom Gatekeepers

My teacher, she is so strict. She like to be mad. I don’t like to be mad. She made me stay in the classroom… I have to use the bathroom. She say no, sit in the seat… So, I was like around, “well when you have to go, you could go, when I have to go, I can’t go?” (age 11–14)

I think that like when students that have bladder problems, they ask to go to the bathroom, there are other students who say this person has a problem in using the bathroom and then the teacher, they don’t let them. They still don’t. They’ll be like no, you’re joking around. (age 11–14)

Some people do cry when they really have to use the bathroom, and I think that’s affected because it affects your emotions. Some people don’t cry when they have to use the bathroom because they know how to hold it when they really have to go. But, yeah, some people do cry… because you really had to go bathroom and you just gotta cry because it hurts. (age 11–14)

Stress Imposed by Bathroom Monitors

And it will be like a bathroom monitor standing out there, which is my Spanish teacher, and we’ll have to wait in the line if like too many people come in at once, or she’ll send some people back. (age 11–14)

There’s cameras outside the bathroom and it’s inside the bathroom, not inside the stalls but it’s like right near the mirrors and the driers… they know who’s really going to the bathroom and who’s not, so. (age 11–14)

There are some teachers who escort you to the bathroom, but I feel like it should be like your gender teacher, like if you’re a girl, like a girl should go in the bathroom, because in this situation, the guy he’s like the assistant, he, sorta, like went into the girls’ bathroom while some girl was using the bathroom, and I felt like that was just nasty and gross. (age 11–14)

Occupational Sector

I know when I was working I never had time to go to the washroom… sometimes I would work and I would go all day… And then you, you realize later on you waited too long. It’s like your bladder is really, really full…You’re not supposed to go all day with your bladder being full. (age 65+)

When I was working, you know, I’m a seamstress. And we have like two breaks and I try to go to the bathroom on them breaks because you working and you trying to make money because you working on piece rate. So you going to try to sit in your chair and work as long as you can instead of just run to the bathroom and stuff. I think that had a lot to do with me, too, because I used to hold mine. (age 45–64)

I’m one that do work in the school system and there are times when you cannot go. You cannot leave the children unsupervised so you have to be in the classroom so you have to hold it till someone relieve you and sometimes that could be all the way up until lunchtime. (age 65+)

When I was working, I was in the kitchen and rush hour you couldn’t leave that line until the rush hour was over, so I had to stand here and dance and prance until it was my time, I could leave you know, so that have a lot to do with it, holding it. (age 65+)

I have held my urine in younger years, I worked in surgery, recovery, and intensive care, so you couldn’t leave… when I think back, I’ve held it seven and eight hours and the muscles were good and strong then. Just kind of tighten up and you wouldn’t have to go. But now I couldn’t do that. (age 65+)