A survey on the prevalence of different subtypes of primary enuresis in children

Objective To explore the prevalence of different subtypes of primary nocturnal enuresis (PNE) of children aged 5-12 years in Henan Province. Methods From October 2016 to May 2017, a cross-sectional survey of primary enuresis prevalence was performed by randomly selecting 9650 children aged 5-12 years from 18 primary schools and 12 middle schools in Henan Province. An anonymous questionnaire was employed for surveying the epidemiology of primary enuresis and its different subtypes. Results A total of 9650 questionnaires were distributed and 8978 questionnaires recovered. There were 8517 valid questionnaires with an effective questionnaire recovery rate of 88.3%. The overall prevalence of PNE was 6.4%(545/8517), the overall prevalence of monosymptomatic enuresis (MNE) 4.6%(395/8517) and the overall prevalence of non-monosymptomatic enuresis (NMNE) 1.8%(150/8517) while accounted for 27.5% of PNE. With advancing age, the prevalence of PNE decreased (χtrend2=143.06, P 0.05). The overall incidence of frequent nocturnal enuresis in children with PNE was 70.1% (382/545) and the incidence of frequent nocturnal enuresis with MNE and NMNE was compared [69.1%(273/395) vs. 72.7%(109/150)]. The difference was not statistically significant (χ2=0.66, P>0.05). Conclusions Around 10% of children aged 5-6 years suffer from PNE. It is one of the major diseases affecting children's quality-of-life. And 1/3 of PNE children are associated with daytime symptoms and the frequency of nocturnal enuresis has remains high. Clinicians and parents should pay great attention. Key words: Diurnal enuresis; Epidemiology; Children