A comparative study on biofeedback and behavioral therapy in the treatment of primary enuresis in children

Abstract

Objective To assess the efficacy of biofeedback treatment of children with primary enuresis (PNE).Methods One hundred and twenty cases of PNE were randomly divided into of two groups:biofeedback treatment group and behavioral therapy group.All children received treatment for 3 months.The short-term and long-term efficacy,the follow-up test were used at the end of treatment and at 6 months after the end of treatment.Results At end of treatment,the rate of cure and effective were 36.7％ and 51.7％,respectively for behavioral group; while the cure rate and total efficiency was 63.3％ and 91.6％ in the biofeedback group,respectively (P＜0.05,P＜0.01).After 6 months of treatment,the cure rate,total efficiency and the recurrence rate were 32.7％,50.9％ and 10.9％ in the group with behavioral therapy; in biofeedback group,the cure rate,the total efficiency and recurrence rates were 62.1％,88.0％ and 5.2％ (P＜0.05,P＜0.01).However,the recurrence rate between the two groups had no significant difference (P =0.26).The proportions of children with detrusor instability at follow-up in the behavioral therapy group were 45.5％,43.6％ respectively (before treatment 51.7％).These were not statistically significant (P=0.50,P=0.39) ; the proportions of children in the biofeedback group with detrusor instability during follow up were 38.3％ and 34.5％ (before treatment 46.7％) (P =0.42,P =0.38).The proportion of children with reduced functional bladder capacity in the behavioral therapy group was 34.5％,36.3％ from 60％ before treatment (60.0 ％) (P＜0.01) ; for the biofeedback group,this proportion was 10.3 ％ and 19.0 ％,as compared to 45％ before treatment (P＜0.01).Conclusions Reduced functional bladder capacity is one of the pathogenesis of children with PNE.Biofeedback training is an effective method for treatment of PNE children who have a bladder with reduced functional capacity. Key words: Biofeedback; Behavior therapy; Child; Primary enuresis