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.