Treating enuresis in children with neurodevelopmental disorders using bell and pad alarm

Abstract

There is a high prevalence of enuresis in children with neurodevelopmental disorders, yet research regarding treatment for this group has been neglected. The efficacy of treatment using bell and pad alarm therapy is not well reported especially in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. This study sought to compare the treatment efficacy of practitioner-assisted bell-and-pad enuresis alarm therapy for children with neurodevelopmental disorders and typically developing children. This study utilized the data of Apos etal. (2018), a retrospective medical record audit collected from multiple clinical settings across Australia. A total of 2986 patient records (3659 treatment records) were included. The participants were children aged 5-16 years, who were diagnosed with enuresis. Children with a neurodevelopmental disorder (n=158) had a clinical diagnosis present in the medical history of attention deficit disorder, autism spectrum disorder, or intellectual disability. Children who indicated any of the following comorbidities were excluded: cerebral palsy, brain injury, malformation of the renal tract, previous bladder or renal surgery, spinal cord malformation, spinal cord trauma or tumor, or a neurodegenerative disorder. Treatment success was defined as ≥ 14 dry nights. Relapse was defined as one symptom recurrence per month post-interruption of treatment, as defined by the International Children's Continence Society definitions. The success rate for children with neurodevelopmental disorders was 62% and typically developing children was 78%. There was no significant difference between the number of treatments received or relapse rates by those children with a neurodevelopmental disorder and typically developing children. The summary figure shows the percentage of children in each group after their first treatment who were successful (success defined as dry for≥14 days), who succeeded (dry for≥14 days) but then relapsed and those who showed no success. The percentage of children with no NDD who were successfully dry after the first treatment was 78%. Children with ID had success after the first treatment of 59%, the lowest of all groups analyzed. The type of alarm therapy reported in this study is effective for treating enuresis in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.