Evaluation of behavioral problems in patients with monosymptomaticnocturnal enuresis: a prospective controlled trial.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the behavioral and emotional patterns of patients with nocturnal enuresis (NE) and compare them with those of healthy subjects.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-eight children and adolescents with monosymptomatic NE who were admitted to our hospital's pediatric and urologic outpatient clinics and 46 age-matched, healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. To compare behavioral patterns in these patients, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was used. Patients' ages, occupations, educational, and socioeconomic status, and mothers' age at delivery were compared in the two groups. One-way ANOVA was used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS: Enuretic children were found to have more behavioral problems than nonenuretic children with regard to social (P = 0.008) and attention (P = 0.018) problems. There were no significant differences in anxiety or attractiveness problems between the groups (P > 0.05); however, patients with enuresis were more likely to exhibit these behavioral problems than healthy subjects. The demographics of the patients were significantly different in the two groups in favor of the control group.

CONCLUSION: It was shown that patients with enuresis have more social and attention problems than the control group. Treating these patients effectively will increase the likelihood that they will not develop behavioral problems.