Clinical Descriptive Study of Masturbatory Behavior Among Infants and Preschool Children: A Recent Observation From Iraq

Background: Pleasurable feelings are normal human behaviors experienced not only by adults but even in infancy and childhood. These feelings might become habitual behavior in form of masturbation. Objective: To evaluate the clinical criteria of infants and preschool children with masturbation habits who were described by parents as having unremitted genital pruritus. Patients and methods: This is a case-series study describing cases of children with masturbation referred to the Department of Dermatology at Baghdad Medical City and Basra Teaching Hospital, central and southern Iraq, for four years (2014-2018). Children and their parents were carefully interrogated including detailed information about the problem. Local and general examinations were performed. Children with obvious genital lesions and those who proved to have urinary or gastrointestinal problems were not included. Results: Forty-four children with masturbation were enrolled in the study (22 females and 22 males). The only reason for referral was unremitted genital pruritus. The mean age was 3.6 years. The frequency of masturbation events was variable; the mean length of events was 5 minutes. In 80% of children, masturbation happened at any time. Behavior during the event was prone or supine posturing with rubbing of the genital area with either hands or furniture followed by facial congestion, sweating, and sleep. The majority of children (68%) belonged to low social class families. Conclusion: Masturbatory behavior is not uncommon in infants and preschool children and may mimic episodes of ongoing genital pruritus.