Incidence of obsessive-compulsive disorder in children with nonmonosymptomatic primary nocturnal enuresis

Enuresis is defined as the repeated voiding of urine into clothes or bed at least twice a week for at least 3 consecutive months in a child who is at least 5 years of age. The behavior is not due exclusively to the direct physiologic effect of a substance or a general medical condition. Diurnal enuresis defines wetting, whereas awake and nocturnal enuresis refers to voiding during sleep. Primary enuresis occurs in children who have never been consistently dry through the night, whereas secondary enuresis refers the resumption of wetting after at least 6 months of dryness. Monosymptomatic enuresis has no associated daytime symptoms, and nonmonosymptomatic enuresis, which is more common, often has at least one subtle daytime symptom. Monosymptomatic enuresis is rarely associated with significant organic underlying abnormalities. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic disabling illness characterized by repetitive, ritualistic behaviors over which the patients have little or no control. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between OCD and nonmonosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis (NMNE).

In this case-control study, we evaluated 186 children aged 6-17 years old who were visited in the pediatric clinics of Amir Kabir Hospital, Arak, Iran. The control group included 93 healthy children, and the case group included 93 age- and sex-matched children with stage 1-3 chronic kidney disease (CKD). Then, the children's behavioral status was evaluated using the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale.

The difference in compulsion was significant (P = 0.021), whereas the difference in obsession was significant between the two groups (P = 0.013). The most common symptom in CKD children with compulsion was silent repetition of words.

Compulsive and obsessive are more common in NMNE versus healthy children. The observed correlation between compulsive-obsessive and NMNE makes psychological counseling mandatory in children with NMNE.