The micturition habits and prevalence of daytime urinary incontinence in Japanese primary school children

Abstract

Purpose: We assessed the prevalence of daytime urinary incontinence (DUI) and the daytime frequency of voiding by age and sex in neurologically normal children in primary school. We also investigated the association of DUI with background factors.

Materials and methods: We performed an anonymous questionnaire survey of DUI in primary school children. A total of 11 primary schools in Hiroshima City were randomly selected and 6,917 school children 7 to 12 years old were enrolled. DUI was defined as any involuntary leakage of urine during the daytime occurring more frequently than once monthly in the 6 months before the survey. Slight dampness of the child underwear was also regarded as DUI.

Results: The overall response rate was 76.4% of 6,917 school children. The prevalence of DUI was 6.3% and it was inversely related to age, decreasing from about 9% at age 7 to 2% at age 12 years. Children urinated about 5 or 6 times daily and increased daytime frequency occurred in 14.6% of all children. Daytime frequency of voids, history of cystitis and infrequent bowel habits had a statistically significant positive correlation with DUI.

Conclusions: We found that the overall prevalence of DUI in primary school children was 6.3%, gradually decreasing with age. Increased daytime frequency, history of cystitis and infrequent bowel habits were significantly related to DUI. The link between DUI and daytime frequency, urinary tract infections and constipation deserves more attention.