Prevalence of enuresis nocturna among a group of primary school children living in Diyarbakır.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, the prevalence of enuresis nocturna (EN) was investigated among primary school children living in Diyarbakır.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Five primary schools in the center of Diyarbakir and a village primary school were selected randomly. Four thousand and five hundred self-administered questionnaires were distributed to parents; 4300 were returned, and 4203 of these questionnaires were included in this study.

RESULTS: Of the children participating in the study, 52.2% of them were boys and 47.8% of them were girls. The mean age of the children was 8.66±1.61 (6-15) years, and the mean number of siblings was 4.03±2.06 (0-13). The prevalence of nocturnal enuresis was determined to be 25.9% (1087) among 4203 children, and it was more common in boys than in girls (27.8 and 23.7%, respectively). The rate of a positive family history in the nocturnal enuresis, and nonenuretic groups were 64.8, and 35.2%, respectively. The average number of siblings in the enuretic, and nonenuretic groups were 4.49±2.65, and 3.87±2.57, respectively Socioeconomic level of the families of enuretic children was worse than that of nonenuretic children. Enuretic children had episodes of bedwetting (92.3%) during night hours or both day and night (8.7 %).The number of bed wetting incidents per week was 4.1±2.2. A minority (5.7%) of the families believed that the condition resolved without any treatment.

CONCLUSION: Family history, a low socioeconomic level and an increased number of children were factors that increased the frequency of enuresis nocturna in our region.