Prevalence of Childhood Monosymptomatic Enuresis in Sickle Cell Disease at a Reference Hospital in North Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Monosymptomatic enuresis (MSE) is thought to be commoner in children with sickle cell disease than in otherwise normal children. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of MSE among children with SCD attending a haematology clinic. Relative risk of developing MSE as well as type and gender specific relative prevalence was also determined.

Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross sectional study, 68 SCD cases and 68 age and sex-matched controls with normal Haemoglobin were enrolled. Data was analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0.

Results: The mean age of the subjects was 8.81± 2.88 years. Cases and controls were each comprised of 41 (30.15%) boys and 27 (19.85%) girls, giving a male: female ratio of 1.5: 1. Prevalence of MSE for SCD was 18.38% and that for controls was 5.15%. Children with SCD had a higher risk of developing MSE than the controls (OR = 5.07, 95% CI = 2.10, 12.77, P ˂ 0.001). Primary MSE was also more likely to occur in a child with SCD (OR = 8.63, 95% CI = 1.08, 69.08, P= 0.025).

Conclusion: MSE was common in children with SCD. We recommend the inclusion of assessment for MSE in the evaluation of children with SCD.