Continence Research

WATCH (Watch with Alarm for Timed-voiding in CHildren) Study:
Study of alarm watch for treating daytime incontinence in children.

Daytime urinary incontinence (DUI) affects 20% of all school age children, with 2% of children wetting at least twice per week. DUI can have a profound effect on quality of life with associated lower self-esteem, teasing and social problems. Untreated childhood DUI may also result in adult incontinence.

The Children’s Hospital at Westmead has commenced an alarm watch study in August 2011 for children with DUI, funded by the Foundation for Children.

Timed voiding is an established treatment for adults, but the evidence is lacking as to whether an alarm watch will improve compliance with timed voiding in children. The study aims to evaluate timed voiding with and without an alarm watch in a randomised controlled trial. Three hundred and sixty children aged between 5 – 13 years will be recruited to this study. If the study results show an alarm watch is an effective way to treat DUI, it could become a simple and inexpensive non-pharmacological tool for treating these children

If you would like to know more about this study, please email the trial coordinators Marianne Kerr at MariannK@chw.edu.au or Sana Hamilton at Sanah@chw.edu.au