Clinician-Epidemiological Features of Children with Enuresis in Tripoli Children's Hospital 2009-2010

Background: Enuresis is defined as the repeated voiding of urine into bed or clothes at least twice a week for at least three consecutive months in children who are at least 5 years of age. Enuresis is normally recognized by the absence of other urinary symptoms or signs of disease. Most children suffering from nocturnal enuresis have never been reliably dry, but in a minority of children enuresis starts after these children had become dry, possibly triggered by stressful life events. Aims: To study the clinical and epidemiological features of children with enuresis who attend the Nephrology clinic in Tripoli Paediatric Hospital. Material and methods:  A case series study including all patients who attended to the nephrology clinic in Tripoli children’s hospital was conducted. The data were collected from the medical records of the patients in the period between January 1st, 2009 and December 31st, 2010. Data was analysed by SPSS program. Results: A total of 300 patients with enuresis have been included in the study, the mean age was 9.4 ± 3 years. The patients age ranged from 4 years old to 17 years. Males constituted a 48.7% of the total number, while the other 51.3% were females. 92.7% of the families had an income of less than 1000 Libyan dinars a month, while 11.7% had an income of less than 200 Libyan dinars. Family history of enuresis was positive in 59.3% of the cases. Night time enuresis constituted up to 70.3% of the cases, while combined day and night time enuresis was present in 29.7%. Primary enuresis was recorded in 70%, and the secondary type was recorded in the remaining 30%. As for the frequency of enuresis, around 51% of patients had the problem on a daily basis. Punishment was observed to be quite high, as 90% of the children received punishment, 40.4% of those were punished by parents, 4.8% by teachers, and 54.8% were punished by both. Conclusion: Enuresis was observed to be more dominant in ages between 6 and 10 years. Gender made no significant difference amongst the suffering children. The level of parents’ education made no effect on the behaviour and frequency of children punishment. Family history of enuresis was recorded in more than half of the patients. Half the children wet the bed daily.