One child in six has daytime urinary symptoms

Design

Nationwide cross-sectional internet-based caregiver survey using standardised instruments

Population

3100 children aged 6 to 15 in Japan (1513 girls, 1587 boys), surveyed in 2025

Primary outcome

Prevalence of daytime LUTS, nocturnal enuresis and bowel dysfunction

Effect

Daytime LUTS 17.5%, nocturnal enuresis 5.1%, chronic functional constipation 14.0%

A nationwide survey of caregivers of 3100 Japanese children aged 6 to 15, using the Dysfunctional Voiding Symptom Score, Rome III criteria and the Bristol stool chart, found daytime lower urinary tract symptoms in 17.5 per cent — urgency the commonest — and nocturnal enuresis in 5.1 per cent.

Boys were affected more often on both counts, and enuresis fell with age across every subtype, monosymptomatic or not, primary or secondary. Chronic functional constipation met Rome III criteria in 14.0 per cent, with no difference between the sexes.

The number worth carrying into clinic is the overlap. Bladder and bowel dysfunction travel together, and a constipation prevalence of 14 per cent in the same population is the reason the first question in a child with daytime wetting or urgency should be about stools, not fluids. This is caregiver-reported survey data with the selection that internet recruitment implies, so the prevalence figures are estimates rather than measurements.

• Ask about stool frequency and consistency in every child presenting with urinary symptoms.
• Use a Bristol chart with the child rather than asking the parent whether constipation is present.
• Treat constipation first; bladder symptoms often follow without further intervention.
• Reassure about the age trend in enuresis while still treating the child in front of you.
• Caregiver-reported internet surveys over-represent engaged families; the true prevalence may differ.

Why it matters

It sets the background rate against which a worried parent's account should be judged.

Don't overread it

Caregiver-reported cross-sectional survey data; prevalence estimates, not diagnoses.

The statistics, in plain English

Prevalence from a 3100-respondent internet survey is precise in the statistical sense and vulnerable in the practical one: caregivers who respond to a 65-question questionnaire differ from those who do not, usually in the direction of having a reason to answer. Standardised instruments (DVSS, Rome III) make the estimates comparable with other studies, which is the main value of the paper.

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