Nocturnal Enuresis in Childhood

Abstract

Of some 12,000 children, 10.7% were enuretic between the ages of 5 and 7 yr, and 4.8% were enuretic at 11 yr. More boys than girls were wet at 11 yr, although there was no difference at 7 yr. At both ages the manual social-classes were over-represented among the children with enuresis. Nocturnal enuresis apparently had multiple causes. The relative importance of social, developmental and psychiatric factors varied with the different groups of children; early bed-wetting was associated with delayed development, and later enuresis was more strongly associated with behavior difficulties.