Behavior profiles in children with functional urinary incontinence before and after incontinence treatment.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this work was to analyze prospectively the prevalence of behavioral disorders in children with urinary incontinence because of nonneuropathic bladder-sphincter dysfunction before and after treatment for incontinence. METHODS: A total of 202 children with nonneuropathic bladder-sphincter dysfunction were enrolled in the European Bladder Dysfunction Study, in branches for urge syndrome (branch 1) and dysfunctional voiding (branch 2); 188 filled out Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist before treatment and 111 after treatment. Child Behavior Checklist scales for total behavior problems were used along with subscales for externalizing problems and internalizing problems. RESULTS: After European Bladder Dysfunction Study treatment, the total behavior problem score dropped from 19% to 11%, the same prevalence as in the normative population; in branch 1 the score dropped from 14% to 13%, and in branch 2 it dropped from 23% to 8%. The prevalence of externalizing problems dropped too, from 12% to 8%: in branch 1 it was unchanged at 10%, and in branch 2 it dropped from 14% to 7%. The decrease in prevalence of internalizing problems after treatment, from 16% to 14%, was not significant. CONCLUSION: More behavioral problems were found in dysfunctional voiding than in urge syndrome, but none of the abnormal scores related to the outcome of European Bladder Dysfunction Study treatment for incontinence. With such treatment, both the total behavior problem score and the score for externalizing problems returned to normal, but the score for internalizing problems did not change. The drops in prevalence are statistically significant only in dysfunctional voiding.

Self-reported urinary incontinence, voiding frequency, voided volume and pad-test results: variables in a prospective study in children.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the congruence between self-reported and objective data on incontinence, voided volume (VV) and voiding frequency (VF), in a prospective study of treatment of functional urinary incontinence (UI) due to urge syndrome or dysfunctional voiding in children. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In all, 202 children, enrolled in the European Bladder Dysfunction Study (EBDS), provided self-reported data on UI, VV and VF, before and after treatment, with validated questionnaires and 72-h voiding diaries. Objective data were obtained with uroflowmetry and a 12-h pad test, also before and after treatment. Questionnaires and diaries were checked and scored by a urotherapist, at scheduled office visits that were combined with uroflowmetry. RESULTS: At entry, parents under-reported UI on the questionnaires in 45% of cases, compared with the urotherapist's scores, and the 12-h pad test sensitivity for UI was only 64% (95% confidence interval 55-73%). The voiding diaries had inconsistent entries on UI and on VV. VF was overestimated in the questionnaires and underestimated in the diaries, compared with the urotherapist's scores. A VF of >7/day decreased significantly after EBDS treatment, but with no correlation with treatment outcome. The mean VV increased significantly after treatment for UI, also with no correlation with treatment outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Voiding diaries and questionnaires are useful tools for charting individual treatment and for screening, but they are ill-suited to documenting outcome variables in urge syndrome or dysfunctional voiding, because of over- and under-reporting. VV and VF lack specificity as outcome variables in children with urge syndrome or dysfunctional voiding. The 12-h pad test is not sensitive enough to complement self-reported symptoms of UI in children with urge syndrome or dysfunctional voiding. Clinical studies on UI rely on complaints and self-reported symptoms, but in children the reporting should be supervised by a trained urotherapist, to provide the necessary checks and balances.