Public Forum on Nocturnal Enuresis

Introduction

The Society for Continence (Singapore) and the Pediatric Society of Singapore jointly organised a public forum on nocturnal enuresis on March 20 1999 at the Crown Prince Hotel. Two sessions were held one in Mandarin and the other in English. Due to overwhelming response a third public forum was held on 29 March 1999 for those who could not be accommodated in the earlier sessions. A total of 1,200 parents attended the public forums.

The speakers included Dr Chao Sin Ming, consultant paediatrician from KK Women’s & Children’s Hospital; Dr Ng Koon Hock, consultant child psychiatrist from Institute of Health; Dr Gong Wei Kin, paediatrician and overseas invited speaker, Prof Kelm Hjalmas from Sweden.

Dr Chao Sin Ming gave an overview of enuresis, its definition, incidence, causes and principles of treatment. Dr Ng Koon Hock on the other hand, talked about the psychological aspects of the condition, focusing on the ways for parents and family members to cope with the problem. Prof Klem Hjalmas participated during the third public forum providing a simplified pathophysiology of enuresis.

A lively question and answer session, moderated by Dr Peter Lim, followed the lectures. The audience fielded various queries to the doctors to clarity different points in the lecture. The audience fielded various queries to the doctors to clarify different points in the lecture. Several presented specific cases and actual problem situations for opinion and discussion by the panel.

Following the public forums, a General Practitioners’ workshop on Nocturnal Enuresis was held. The participating faculty included Dr Chao Sin Ming; A/Prof Yap Hui Kim from National University Hospital and Dr Peter H C Lim, consultant urologist from Changi General Hospital. Dr Chao Sin Ming gave an overview of nocturnal enuresis and discussed the different treatment options to address the problem. She also presented the results of a local study on the efficacy of desmopressin among Singaporean enuretics. Dr Lim gave the urologists’ approach in the management of the problem. Lastly, Prof K Hjalmas introduced the concept of bladder pretreatment, a type of behavioural modification to increase the efficacy of desmopressin.