Globally, One in 13 Youth Experience Nocturnal Enuresis

TUESDAY, April 8, 2025 (HealthDay News) — One in 13 youth and adolescents globally experience nocturnal enuresis, according to a review published online March 20 in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health.

Molalign Aligaz Adisu, from the College of Health Sciences at Woldia University in Ethiopia, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review and meta-analysis seeking to synthesize global epidemiological data on nocturnal enuresis.

Based on 128 studies (445,242 individuals in 39 countries), the researchers found that the overall pooled prevalence of nocturnal enuresis among children and adolescents was 7.2 percent. Factors significantly associated with nocturnal enuresis included a positive family history (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.49), positive urinary tract infection (aOR, 3.89), parental death (aOR, 1.93), first birth order (aOR, 0.5), and male sex (aOR 1.63).

“It is recommended that health care providers should implement routine screening for nocturnal enuresis, particularly for children with known risk factors such as family history and urinary tract infections, and the development of targeted interventions and support mechanisms should be prioritized, considering the significant impacts of these factors among children and adolescents,” the authors write.

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