A comparison of dry-bed training and standard urine-alarm conditioning treatment of childhood bedwetting

Abstract

Two experiments examined the significance of patient-therapist contact in the treatment of childhood nocturnal enuresis by behavioural methods. The first involving 45 enuretic children compared the effectiveness of the standard urine-alarm conditioning procedure when it is closely supervised as opposed to not supervised after the initial description of training. Results showed that adequate patient-therapist contact is necessary for the effective use of the standard conditioning treatment. One hundred and twenty children took part in the second experiment which compared standard conditioning with Dry-Bed Training (DBT) (Azrin et al, 1974) administered under four different conditions—by the child's parents at home, by a professional trainer at home, by a professional trainer in hospital and by the child's parents without the adjunct of a conventional bed-buzzer device. DBT was superior to standard conditioning in terms of the proportion of bedwetters successfully treated and in terms of the speed of treatment. DBT was equally effective under all conditions of administration except where it did not have the adjunct of a machine, in which case it was only marginally better than no treatment at all.