Evaluation of Anxiety and Depression Symptoms Severity in Children and Adolescents Diagnosed as Primary Nocturnal Enuresis

Objective: This study was performed to determine the presence of social anxiety and depression symptoms severity in children and adolescents diagnosed as primary nocturnal enuresis. Materials and Methods: The study included 168 children and adolescents presented to the out patient clinics of pediatrics and pediatric nephrology between December 2013 and March 2014. The patients and their parents were informed about the study and those giving informed consent were included in the study. Of 168 participants, 82 diagnosed as primary nocturnal enuresis were assigned into the patient group and 86 were assigned into the control group. The participants were administered the Social Anxiety Scale for Children –Revised and the Depression Scale for Children. Results: Of 198 participants, 92 (54.8%) were male and 76 (45.2%) were female. The mean age was 10.9±1.8 years in the patient group and 11.09±1.44 years in the control group. Both groups were similar in terms of the mean age (p=0.463) and gender (p=0.854). The patient group got 25.0±3.5 from the Depression Scale for Children and the control group got 25.3±4.9 for the Depression Scale for Children without a significant difference (p=0.635). The patient group and the control group got 44.0±13.6 and 36.5±9.5 for the Social Anxiety Scale for Children –Revised respectively. The patientgroup got significantly higher scores for the Social Anxiety Scale for Children –Revised (p=0000). Conclusion: The results showed that the patients diagnosed as primary nocturnal enuresis had a higher degree of anxiety than the control group. Considering psychology in childhood and adolescence, primary nocturnal enuresis is an important source of psychological problems. Therefore, it is of great importance to perform a psychiatric evaluation and to offer appropriate psychiatric support in addition to medical treatment