ABSTRACT
Out of 1023 interview questionnaire forms sent to the selected families, 836 were received [81.72%] More than one tenth [12.44%] of the pupils aged 6-8 years were bedwetters, boys were more affected than girls. The mean birth order of the non-bedwetters was significantly higher than that of the bedwetters. The prevalence of bedwetting was significantly lower among the children whose fathers had higher grade of education. The mean income of the bedwetters families was significantly lower than those of the non-bedwetters families. The same thing was shown when the per-capital income was taken into consideration. The general crowding index had significant adverse effect on the occurrence of such events. Enuresis is defined as an involuntary discharge of urine occurring beyond the age when control of the urinary bladder should have been acquired. Nocturnal control is usually not established until two to three years of age. Some children may not be dry at night until four to six years of age[1]. Bedwetting is present in about 10-15% of otherwise normal five year old children and in about one percent of normal 15 years olds[2]. Bedwetting can be regarded as an important pediatric as well as community health problem. One reason is that it affects not only the child but the entire family, and may adversely affect the parent-child relationship and hence the community as whole. The causes and background of enuresis are usually complex and often interrelated. They include the following: delayed maturation, faulty conditioning faulty learning, the child's developing ego and personality, the personality of the mother, ignorance of normal development and its variations, psychological stress, laziness, depth of sleep, nocturnal polyuria, and small bladder capacity[3] However, little is known about the effect of the socio-economic conditions of the family on the occurrence of such phenomena. For a better understanding of the problem, the Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Mosul University planned a survey of bedwetting among the pupils aged six to eight year old and their families