Alarm for the Treatment of Enuresis: Review of Treatment Types and Treatment Efficacy

Nocturnal enuresis, or involuntary urination while asleep, can have a huge impact on the quality of life of children, teenagers and even young adults, also generating stress in households, and thus, has a negative impact on the lives of entire families. A number of treatment types are available; such as medication, bladder training, uro therapy, positive reinforcement, and the enuresis alarm, the latter presenting higher cure rates, lower rates of relapse in the long term, and therefore being considered a gold standard treatment for enuresis. But it is a treatment with conditions; it requires motivation, patience and persistence. The method does not always get the support of the family, leading to a relatively high drop-out rate. The first publication on the therapeutic technique with night alarms came out in the 30 ́s of the last century, and since then, many ways and various methods have been suggested and studied in the search for a good and inexpensive treatment. The objective of this study is to present the alarm types as described in publications and to discuss their effectiveness in the treatment of nocturnal enuresis.