Lack of Bladder Control Tied to Emotional Health in Kids

TOPLINE:

According to a new study, children with urinary incontinence (UI) had worsening emotional problems over time, and changes in emotional problems predicted the risk for UI in the future.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers analysed data of 8188 children aged 6.5 to 9 years (5src.7% girls) from the ALSPAC study to assess the potential association between UI and emotional problems among them.
• Parents reported their child’s UI (bedwetting and daytime wetting) at the ages of 7.5 and 9.5 years.
• They reported their child’s emotional problems using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at the ages of 6.75 and 9.5 years.
• The analysis was adjusted for the child’s sex assigned at birth, maternal educational attainment, stressful life events score at 42 months, and the other SDQ subscales at 6.75 years.

TAKEAWAY:

• At the age of 9.5 years, most children (87.src%) were dry, while some had bedwetting alone (8.1%), daytime wetting alone (3.3%), or both bedwetting and daytime wetting (1.7%), after adjustment for confounders.
• UI at the age of 7.5 years was associated with an increase in emotional problems over time (P <.srcsrc1). Compared with children who were dry, those with bedwetting, daytime wetting, or both showed an increase in emotional problems (P <.srcsrc1).
• Changes in emotional problems from the ages of 6.75 to 9.5 years were associated with the risk for subsequent UI at the age of 9.5 years (P <.srcsrc1).
• The results remained robust after adjusting for confounding factors.

IN PRACTICE:

“An important clinical implication of our findings is that emotional problems should be evaluated and monitored in children being treated for UI and that particular attention should be paid to children with both daytime wetting and bedwetting since they experience the greatest increase in emotional problems over time,” the authors wrote. “Intervening to prevent or reduce emotional problems could, therefore, decrease the probability that UI will continue into later childhood and adolescence,” they added.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Carol Joinson and Mariusz T. Grzeda, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, England. It was published online on April src3 in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

LIMITATIONS:

This study was limited by data collection at only two timepoints in childhood and misalignment in timing between emotional problems and UI measures. Information on organic causes potentially underlying UI was unavailable. The potential effects of UI treatment on the findings were not considered. Additionally, the predominantly White, affluent sample limited the generalisability of the findings to more diverse populations.

DISCLOSURES:

This study was funded by the Medical Research Council. The ALSPAC study received core support from the UK Medical Research Council and Wellcome and the University of Bristol. Joinson reported receiving financial support from the UK Medical Research Council.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.