Improving the efficacy of enuresis alarm treatment through early prediction of treatment outcome: a machine learning approach

IntroductionBedwetting, also known as enuresis, is the second most common chronic health problem among children and it affects their everyday life negatively. A first-line treatment option is the enuresis alarm. This method entails the child being awoken by a detector and alarm unit upon urination at night, thereby changing their arousal mechanisms and potentially curing them after 6–8 weeks of consistent therapy. The enuresis alarm treatment has a reported success rate above 50% but requires significant effort from the families involved. Additionally, there is a challenge in identifying early indicators of successful treatment.MethodsThe alarm treatment has been further developed by the company Pjama AB, which, in addition to the alarm, offers a mobile application where users provides data about the patient and information regarding each night throughout the treatment. The wet and dry nights are recorded, in addition to the actual timing of the bedwetting incidents. We used the machine learning model random forest to see if predictions of treatment outcome could be made in early stages of treatment and shorten the evaluation time based on data from 611 patients. This was carried out by using and analyzing data from patients who had used the Pjama application. The patients were split into training and testing groups to evaluate to what extent the algorithm could make predictions every day about whether a patient’s treatment would be successful, partially successful, or unsuccessful.ResultsThe results show that a large number of patient outcomes can already be predicted accurately in the early stages of treatment.DiscussionAccurate predictions enable the correct measures to be taken earlier in the treatment, including increasing motivation, adding pharmacotherapy, or terminating treatment. This has the potential to shorten the treatment in general, and to detect patients who will not respond to the treatment early on, which in turn can improve the lives of children suffering from enuresis. The results show great potential in making the treatment of enuresis more efficient

Nocturnal enuresis—theoretic background and practical guidelines

Nocturnal polyuria, nocturnal detrusor overactivity and high arousal thresholds are central in the pathogenesis of enuresis. An underlying mechanism on the brainstem level is probably common to these mechanisms. Enuretic children have an increased risk for psychosocial comorbidity. The primary evaluation of the enuretic child is usually straightforward, with no radiology or invasive procedures required, and can be carried out by any adequately educated nurse or physician. The first-line treatment, once the few cases with underlying disorders, such as diabetes, kidney disease or urogenital malformations, have been ruled out, is the enuresis alarm, which has a definite curative potential but requires much work and motivation. For families not able to comply with the alarm, desmopressin should be the treatment of choice. In therapy-resistant cases, occult constipation needs to be ruled out, and then anticholinergic treatment—often combined with desmopressin—can be tried. In situations when all other treatments have failed, imipramine treatment is warranted, provided the cardiac risks are taken into account

The amount of urine voided in bed by children with enuresis

Introduction: Enuretic children wet their beds either because of nocturnal polyuria or nocturnal detrusor over-activity. Polyuric children often respond to desmo-pressin, whereas children with nocturnal detrusor overactivity are often therapy resistant and may have low daytime voided volumes. It is logical to assume that the enuretic event in children with nocturnal polyuria occurs with a full bladder, i. e. with the enuretic voided volume (EVV) close to the child's expected bladder capacity (EBC) for his/her age. However, the EVV has only rarely been studied, and little is known about how it relates to case history, polyuria, or daytime bladder function. The aim of this study was to look at EVV and relate it to voiding chart data and treatment response. Methods: Anamnestic data and voiding charts, including measurement of nocturnal urine production and EVV, in enuretic children with or without concomitant daytime incontinence attending a tertiary center were retrospectively reviewed. The EVV was analyzed and compared to anamnestic data, voiding chart data, and response to therapy in accordance with the guidelines of the International Children's Continence Society. Results: Data were available for 220 children (age 5-24, median 9), 40 of whom were girls. The prevalence of previous or present daytime incontinence was 42.4%, and 50.5% sometimes experienced urgency. The average EVV was 54.9 +/- 32.8% of EBC. EVV correlated highly significantly to nocturnal urine production (p < 0.001). Still, EVV >= EBC was observed in only 16 children. EVV was slightly larger in girls (p = 0.013) and in children with urgency (p = 0.034), but there were no significant EVV differences between children responding or not responding to antidiuretic, anticholinergic, or antidepressant therapy. Relevant data are summarized in the Table below. Discussion: Case history and daytime voiding chart data give very little information about nocturnal bladder function. The EVV is strongly influenced by nocturnal urine production but only rarely reaches up to a level close to or exceeding the EBC. The enuretic event only very rarely represents the emptying of a full bladder. Thus, a component of nocturnal detrusor overactivity can be assumed to be present in almost all enuretic children, even in children with nocturnal polyuria. The value of the EVV is limited in predicting response to therapy.

Problems with enuresis management : A personal view

Much has happened since the end of the era when enuresis was blamed on the parents or the children themselves. Still, there are large gaps in our knowledge and large parts of modern enuresis management guidelines are (still) not based on firm evidence. In this review I will question the following commonly made assumptions regarding enuresis evaluation and treatment: • It is important to subdivide enuresis according to the presence of daytime symptoms • Voiding charts are crucial in the primary evaluation of the enuretic child • All children with enuresis need to be screened for behavioral or psychiatric issues • Concomittant daytime incontinence needs to be successfully treated before addressing the enuresis • Concomittant constipation needs to be successfully treated before addressing the enuresis • Urotherapy is a first-line treatment against enuresis In this review I will argue that much of what we do with these children is based more on experience and well-meant but poorly supported assumptions than on evidence. Some advice and therapies are probably ineffective whereas for other treatments we lack reliable predictors of treatment response. More research is obviously needed, but awaiting new results enuresis management could be substantially simplified

Rectal diameter assessment in enuretic children-exploring the association between constipation and bladder function

Objectives: Detrusor overactivity and constipation often co-exist in children with enuresis. Constipation is known to be linked to detrusor overactivity. The voiding chart is the best non-invasive way to investigate bladder function, whereas the ultrasonographical detection of rectal dilatation is the best way to objectify constipation. We wanted to investigate a possible relationship between the rectal diameter and voiding chart data in enuretic children. Methods: Children with therapy-resistant enuresis were retrospectively evaluated. All had completed a voiding chart for at least 48 h. The rectal diameter was assessed ultrasonographically. The cutoff for rectal dilatation was set at 30 mm. Results: We evaluated 74 patients (12 girls) aged 10.2 +/- 2.8years, 35 of whom had rectal dilatation. No significant differences in voiding chart parameters were found between children with normal versus dilated rectum. Neither did urgency or a history of daytime incontinence differ between the groups. Boys were more likely to have rectal dilatation than girls (p = 0.02). Conclusions: The absence of differences regarding voiding chart data may be explained as two mechanisms neutralizing each other: behavioral factors may make the constipated children void seldom and with large volumes, whereas detrusor overactivity caused by rectal compression of the bladder may have the opposite effect. Another option may be that the voiding chart is too blunt an instrument to detect detrusor overactivity. Constipation, and thus presumably bladder dysfunction, seems to be more important in enuretic boys than girls