Meta-analyses of Results of Alarm Treatment for Nocturnal Enuresis: Reporting Practice, Criteria and Frequency of Bedwetting

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this article is to obtain a realistic picture of the efficiency of alarm treatment for nocturnal enuresis by means of meta-analysis (this is done by estimating a model for the success rate of the treatment as reported in the literature) and to interpret the results of the individual reports in the light of the model.

Material and Methods: A model including year of treatment, applied criteria for success and the frequency of wet nights is proposed and calculated.

Results: The apparent decline in success over the period 1938-96 is explained in terms of systematic changes in reporting practice and underestimation of the problem of relapse. It is shown that the probability of the success of alarm treatment for nocturnal enuresis increases with the frequency of wet nights, confirming a previous finding of the authors.

Conclusion: Meta-analyses can give a much more realistic picture of the efficiency of alarm treatment for nocturnal enuresis than can be obtained from an individual report.

Key words::

• alarm treatment
• expansion method
• heterogeneity
• meta-analyses
• multilevel method
• nocturnal enuresis