Clinical differences in daytime wetting subtypes: urge incontinence and postponed voiding

Urge incontinence and voiding postponement are common subtypes of daytime wetting in children. We analyzed clinical and behavioral differences in children with urge incontinence, voiding postponement and healthy controls at 2 centers.

A total of 49 consecutive children 5 to 13 years old with urge incontinence (22) or voiding postponement (27) who presented to the department of urology or child psychiatry were examined as well as 32 age and gender matched controls. Instruments included physical examination, sonography, uroflowmetry, urinalysis, a 48-hour bladder diary, the Child Behavior Checklist, a structured psychiatric interview and an intelligence test.

The incontinent group consisted of 28 boys and 21 girls with a mean age of 7.35 years. Controls included 13 girls and 19 boys with a mean age of 7.31 years. Incontinent children had a higher rate of pathological uroflow curves (33% vs 25%) and urinary tract infection (6% vs 3%), greater post-void residual volume (6.3 ml vs 3.8 ml) and a thicker bladder wall. Mean IQ was the same in the 2 groups (103). The Child Behavior Checklist showed that significantly more incontinent children had clinical total behavior (41% vs 9%, p <0.01), and externalizing (35% vs 0%, p <0.001) and internalizing (29% vs 6%, p <0.05) scores than controls. Also, more children with voiding postponement had total clinical scores than those with urinary incontinence (56% vs 24%, p <0.05). Of incontinent children 49% fulfilled the criteria for at least 1 ICD-10 psychiatric diagnosis vs 9% of controls (p <0.001). There were no differences between children recruited at the departments of urology and child psychiatry.

This study shows that urge incontinence and voiding postponement are significantly associated with somatic complaints and psychological abnormalities compared to a control population. Children with voiding postponement have more externalizing behavioral disorders. Children seen at urological departments carry the same psychiatric risks and require the same attention to behavioral problem diagnosis.