Comorbid Psychiatric Disorders in Children and Adolescents with Nocturnal Enuresis

The present study was conducted with the aim of identifying the frequency of comorbid psychiatricdisorders in children and adolescents with nocturnal enuresis (NE).

In this descriptive-analytical study, 183 children and adolescents aged 5-18 years withNE referred to psychiatric clinics at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences were selected in 2015. A structuredclinical diagnostic interview, the kiddie-schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia (K-SADS), was employedbased on the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-IV-TR) for the diagnosis of NEand comorbid psychiatric disorders.

In this study, 39 participants (21.3%) were female and 144 (78.7%) were male. The mean age of participantswas 8.69 ± 2.34 years. The lifelong incidence of mental disorders among enuretic children and adolescentswas 79.23%. The highest incidence belonged to attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with 74.9%, oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD) with 53%, and tic disorders with 12% (motor tics together with a single caseof vocal tic). The lowest incidence was for conduct disorder, bipolar affective disorder, and post-traumatic stressdisorder (PTSD) with 5%. Based on the Fisher exact test, there was no significant difference between girls andboys in terms of psychiatric disorders incidence (P > .05).

Comorbid psychiatric disorders with NE are common among children and adolescents. Therefore,in-depth examination of other psychiatric disorders needs to be carried out in enuretic children and adolescents,which will affect the treatment and prognosis of NE.