Prevalence and associated factors of enuresis in Turkish children

Enuresis, which is frequently diagnosed amongst schoolchildren, is an important psychosocial problem for both parents and children. In the present study we aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of enuresis in Turkish children and to identify common methods for its management.

A cross sectional epidemiological study was performed among primary school children living in Ankara, Turkey. A self-administered questionnaire was prepared for this study and distributed to the parents of 1,500 schoolchildren whom aged 6-12 years.

Of the 1,500 questionnaires distributed, 1,339 (89%) were completed. The overall prevalence of nocturnal and diurnal enuresis were 17.5%(n=234) and 1.9% (n=25), respectively. Although male gender, low age, history of enuresis among parents, low educational level of the parents, deep sleep, increased number of siblings, increased number of people sleeping in the child's room, history of enuresis among siblings, poor school performance and history of recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI) were significantly associated with enuresis, but not with severe enuresis. The percentage of children with enuresis seen by physician for treatment was 17.2%. The most preferred treatment option for enuresis was medications (59.5%), whereas alarm treatment was the least preferred (2.4%).

Our results with enuresis prevalence and associated factors were comparable to other epidemiologic studies from various countries. Furthermore we demonstrated that families in Turkey do not pay sufficient attention to enuresis and most of enuretic children do not receive professional treatment.