The Importance of Obesity and Socio-demographic Properties in Children with Nocturnal Enuresis Diagnosis

Author(s):

Serhan Cimen*

Introduction: Urinary incontinence during sleeping is a common condition in children older than four years. This is called nocturnal enuresis. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the sociodemographic characteristics of children with nocturnal enuresis and its relationships with etiology, diagnosis, treatment, and obesity. Materials and Methods: 692 patients diagnosed with primary nocturnal enuresis were screened retrospectively and included in the study. Their families were interviewed and asked to fill out the questionnaire form. This questionnaire form contained questions about gender, family history of nocturnal enuresis, frequency of nocturnal enuresis, presence of encopresis or constipation, monthly income, number of siblings, age at initiation of toilet training, sleep assessment, history of previous treatment, and perspective of families on their children’s medication use, height, and weight. The relationship of these variables with nocturnal enuresis was evaluated. Findings: Of the 692 patients included in the study, 262 (37.8%) were female and 430 (62.2%) were male. The mean age was 9.2 (5-16) years. 112 (16.1%) patients had a family history of nocturnal enuresis. 241 (34.9%) patients wet the bed every day, 341 (49.3%) patients wet the bed two or three days per week, 62 (8.9%) patients wet the bed one day per week or less, and 48 (6.9%) wet the bed one day per month or less. While 96 (13.8%) patients had accompanying chronic constipation, 13 (1.8%) patients had accompanying encopresis. The families of 386 (55.8%) patients had a monthly income of less than 1000 TL, the families of 214 (30.9%) patients had a monthly income between 1000-2000 TL, and the families of 92 (13.3%) patients had a monthly income of 2000 TL or over. When the number of siblings in the family was examined, 52 (7.6%) patients had no siblings, 394 (56.9%) patients had 4 or more siblings. When age at initiation of toilet training was examined, 534 (73.9%) patients received toilet training between the ages of 2 and 5 years. According to sleep assessment, 360 (52.1%) patients slept deeply. 338 (48.8%) patients received previous treatment. While the families of 358 (51.7%) patients took a positive approach to medication initiation, the families of 334 (48.3%) patients were hesitant to medication initiation due to medication side effects. According to body mass index (BMI) category, 262 (37.9%) patients were lean, 364 (52.7%) patients were normal weight, 42 (6%) patients were overweight, and 24 (3.4%) patients were obese. Conclusion: Nocturnal enuresis is an important health problem that adversely affects children. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to raise family awareness about nocturnal enuresis, to assess the socioeconomic status of the family, to determine whether there is a genetic predisposition in the family, and to reveal the presence of additional diseases in the child. The family should be adequately informed about the treatment. It should be explained to the family that nocturnal enuresis should be followed up. We think that there is a need for further studies on this subject.