Enuresis and sleep fellowship education

Purpose: Enuresis is a common sleep-related concern in school aged children that gradually decreases into adulthood. We performed a survey of sleep providers in order to assess their comfort level in managing patients with enuresis.

Methods: Survey participants were recruited via the Pedsleep listserv and sleep medicine program directors in the USA on basecamp application. The Pedsleep list includes a mixture of physicians, psychologists, and other sleep providers/researchers.

Results: Forty-two sleep providers completed the survey. Forty (95%) were board certified in sleep medicine, and 32 (76%) were board certified in pediatrics. Practice patterns for management of enuresis varied among respondents, with 69% who evaluate for possible contributions from other sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea then refer for additional management. Nineteen (45%) respondents felt that they received inadequate or very inadequate training during their sleep fellowship for management of enuresis. While 83% of respondents worked in an academic medical center setting, none of their respective sleep clinics were the primary managing clinic at their own situation. Participants who endorsed their training as adequate/very adequate were significantly more likely to feel comfortable/very comfortable managing enuresis (90% vs 37.5%, p = 0.009).

Conclusions: A large percentage of sleep providers are lacking essential training to manage enuresis patients. These results suggest the need for additional educational initiatives in this area.