Nocturnal enuresis: Prevalence and risk factors among school-aged children with sickle-cell anaemia in a South-east Nigerian city

Abstract

Background: Sickle-cell anaemia (SCA) is the most common inherited haemoglobinopathy affecting the Negroid race. Renal complications such as enuresis can occur during childhood. Reports show that children and adolescents with SCA may be at a higher risk of nocturnal enuresis than their counterparts with normal haemoglobin genotype. Aims: The study aims to determine the prevalence of nocturnal enuresis and possible risk factors among school-aged children with SCA in a South-east Nigerian city. Methods: A hospital-based and cross-sectional descriptive study of 70 school-aged children with SCA who met the study criteria, and 70 age- and sex-matched controls with normal haemoglobin genotype was conducted in the Paediatric Sickle-cell Anaemia Clinic of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu. Data was subjected to multivariate analysis using logistic regression model with nocturnal enuresis as the dependent variable and the possible risk factors as the independent variables. Results: The prevalence of nocturnal enuresis among the Subjects and the Controls was 31.4 and 21.4 % respectively (p∈=∈0.180). It was significantly higher among male Subjects (48.7 %) than among male Controls (23.1 %) [OR (95 % CI) =8.14 (2.12-31.24), p∈