Association between Nocturnal Enuresis and Decreased Body Height in Children

Abstract

Background: Nocturnal enuresis (NE) occurs in 4-18% of children aged ≥5 years, and is associated with sleep disorders, behavioral problems and impaired intellectual development. The present work aimed to assess whether NE is associated with height in children.Methods: Demographic and clinical data of 21,258 children were extracted from a large-sample sleep survey database. Multivariate linear regression analysis, after adjustment for sex, age, ethnicity, sleep time, activity level, method of delivery and maternal age, was carried out to analyze the difference in height between children with NE and healthy controls for various age groups. Factors independently predicting NE were identified by multivariable analysis.Results: The NE group had reduced height, higher proportion of males, lower activity level, lower household income and greater use of light during sleep in comparison with the control group. Height difference between NE cases and healthy controls increased with age, reaching 2-3 cm at 11-12 years of age, and was greater in girls than in boys aged up to 10 years. Conclusions: The negative effect of NE on children's height increases with age and is more pronounced in girls than in boys. Early treatment of NE might limit its detrimental effects on children's growth.