An epidemiological study of enuresis in Korean children

Objective To estimate the prevalence of enuresis in children of elementary school age, to evaluate the impact of enuresis on these children and their parents, and to identify the methods and effectiveness of managing enuresis. Subjects and methods A randomly selected cross-sectional study was conducted in one elementary school in each urban ward (nine schools) in Pusan, Korea. The parents of these 12 570 children aged 7-12 years were asked to complete questionnaires which included items about the presence and frequency of enuresis, its perceived impact and management. Enuresis was defined as an episode of wetting occurring at least once per month. Results The overall response rate to the questionnaire was 55.8% (girls 28.2%, boys 27.6%). The prevalence of nocturnal, diurnal and combined enuresis was 9.2%, 2.2% and 1.4%, respectively. The overall prevalence of enuresis declined with age from 20.4% at 7 years old to 5.6% at 12 years old; 342 (57.0%) parents and 318 (55.6%) children were concerned about enuresis. The common self-help strategies were waking the child at night to void (38.1%) and restriction of water intake (25.7%). Of the enuretic children, only 13.7% had consulted a health worker. Conclusion The prevalence rates for enuresis in Pusan are similar to those reported from European countries. Enuretic children and their parents were moderately concerned about enuresis and the parents primarily used self-management within the family.