Urinary incontinence in adolescents seen at a tertiary paediatric continence service

The purpose of this case control study was to increase understanding about young people with urinary incontinence by comparing initial presentation and treatment response between adolescents (aged 15-18 years) and children (aged 4-15 years) who presented to a tertiary paediatric continence service in Australia from 2005 to 2014. A total of 264 patient records were reviewed in this study. The median age of initial presentation for adolescents group was 15 years versus 8 years for children. More adolescents had a history of developmental disability (17% versus 9%, p=0.05) or chronic illness (23% versus 9%, p=0.003); however, there was no difference in frequency, severity or type of incontinence between the two groups. The treatment outcomes were also similar between groups, with 41% of adolescents versus 32% of the children becoming dry by their last appointment (p=0.12). As such, while adolescents were more likely to have a history of developmental disability or chronic illness, their treatment response was encouraging and comparable to younger children who presented to the service.