Prevalence and incidence of enuresis before puberty

A mixed study of the prevalence and incidence of enuresis addressed to the schools of the province of Sassari was planned over a 2-year period.

School children aged between 3 and 11 years were considered. 734 children aged 3, 6, and 9, of 3 schools representative of the urban, suburban and rural areas of Sassari were selected by "cluster" sampling. In this first stage of the project a study of prevalence in children aged 3, 6, and 9 years was carried out. The second stage encompasses a 1-year longitudinal study of the cohort selected in the first stage and provides incidence data pertinent to children aged 4, 7 and 10 years.

Cross sectional study: In the 73 children aged 3 years who attended nursery schools, 7 cases of enuresis (9.6%) were identified. In the 306 6-year old children of the first year of primary school, 22 cases of enuresis (7.2%) were observed. In the 355 9-year-old students of the fourth year of primary school, 10 cases (2.8%) were reported. Follow up: No case of enuresis was observed among children of the nursery school (aged 4 years); 2 new cases (0.7%) were identified in the 7 year-old group and only 1 new case (0.57%) was encountered in the group of children aged 10. Prevalence of enuresis reached 5.3% in the overall sample and showed a progressive decrease from the younger to the older age group.