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Of the 1,000 children, 728 (72.8%) were discharged dry; 168 (16.8%)
were discharged for non-attendance. 5 (.5%) discharged still enuretic, 38
(3.8%) referred elsewhere, 59 (5.9%) left the district, and one died in an
accident. 51 or 5.1% cases discharged as dry subsequently relapsed and
returned to the clinic for further treatment. 436 of the children have received
treatment elsewhere prior to attendance at the clinic.
Some had previously used buzzers without success. It is not sufficient
merely to issue a buzzer with a list of instructions, there must be a followup
of the patient. A common cause of failure with the buzzer is the child not
waking until the bed is already thoroughly wet. If any child does not wake
and get out of bed as soon as the bell rings, the mother must be encouraged
to sleep with it herself. It is imperative that there should never be more than
a small patch of damp (smaller than a saucer) on the drawsheet. A further
cause of trouble with the buzzers is that they become too sensitive and ring
when the child turns over in bed. Unless these problems are sorted out the
parent aid child will give up using the conditioning machine without it being
properly tried. 359, (35.9%) of the children used the local authority's conditioning
apparatus.
Onset Enuresis
Of the 1,000 cases, 77 were of onset enuresis. That means enuresis
starting after a child had developed and maintained control of his bladder
for at least one year. These children fell into a totally different category
from those with primary enuresis. The familiar incidence is smaller (24.7%)
against 41.4% in the primary enuresis cases) and the cause is frequently
known. Of the 77 cases of onset enuresis the probable cause was known in
66; the commonest cause was starting school, the next most common was
birth of a sibling. Other causes include going into hospital, going up to the
junior school and some parental change.
Treatment for these children was the same; because the cause was
obviously psychological, they responded well to psychological treatment.