International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume 16, Issue 7, 2019

Refugee status as a possible risk factor for childhood enuresis (Article) (Open Access)

Jurković M.* , Tomašković I. , Tomašković M. , Zore B.S. , Pavić I. , Roić A.C.
  • a Faculty of Medicine, J. J. Strossmayer University, Osijek, 31000, Croatia, Department of Pediatrics, Vinkovci General County Hospital, Vinkovci, 32100, Croatia
  • b Faculty of Medicine, J. J. Strossmayer University, Osijek, 31000, Croatia, Department of Urology, Sisters of Mercy University Hospital Center, Zagreb, 10000, Croatia
  • c Special Hospital for Protection of Children with Neurodevelopmental and Motor Disorders, Goljak, Zagreb, 10000, Croatia
  • d Department of Pediatrics, Vinkovci General County Hospital, Vinkovci, 32100, Croatia
  • e Zagreb Children’s Hospital, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, 10000, Croatia
  • f Faculty of Medicine, J. J. Strossmayer University, Osijek, 31000, Croatia

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of refugee status on the occurrence of enuresis. It was performed among school children aged 6 to 11 years and their parents in the Vukovarsko-srijemska County (eastern Croatia), which had many displaced persons and refugees (mostly women and children) in the 1990s due to the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. A specially designed questionnaire (about the child’s age and gender, the child’s enuresis history and that of the parents, and data on parental refugee status in childhood) was completed by one of the parents. Adequate data were collected for 3046 children. The prevalence of enuresis among the studied children was quite low (2.3%) but the prevalence distribution according to gender, the decline by age, and the higher odds ratio for paternal enuresis were in line with the results of other studies. The prevalence of parental enuresis in childhood was higher than their children’s enuresis (mothers: 5.8%, fathers: 3.6%, p < 0.001), and significantly higher among parents who had been refugees (mothers: p = 0.001, fathers: p = 0.04). Parental refugee status had no influence on the children’s enuresis. The results suggest that refugee status is a risk factor for the occurrence of enuresis in childhood. © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Author Keywords

Enuresis child Refugees Prevalence

Index Keywords

Parents displacement questionnaire survey refugee Croatia human risk assessment Refugees sex difference statistics and numerical data controlled study comparative study Bosnia and Herzegovina urine incontinence Urinary Incontinence Cross-Sectional Studies Enuresis Surveys and Questionnaires school child social status cross-sectional study psychology Humans male preschool child female young population risk factor Risk Factors questionnaire prevalence Incidence Article major clinical study adult environmental stress age sex factor Sex Factors Age Factors Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic posttraumatic stress disorder age distribution urine child parent relation Child
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85064842445&doi=10.3390%2fijerph16071293&partnerID=40&md5=2ea88ba3ca856d4a38ca01d729822d13
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16071293
ISSN: 16617827
Cited by: 2
Original Language: English