Outline

  1. Abstract
  2. Introduction
  3. Background
  4. Method
  5. Results
  6. Conclusions

Preliminary Data on a Relationship Between

Primary Nocturnal Enuresis and Handedness

Draft 1

Abstract

A survey of 300000 college students indicates a positive correlation between the manifestations of monosymptomatic primary nocturnal enuresis and left handedness. Other correlations were examined including age, sex and birth order. A review of the literature indicates that there is evidence that both conditions may share at least one genetic origination. Preliminary data is presented to support this argument with a discussion of previous research into both areas.

Introduction

The concept for this study began as anecdotal evidence pointing to a relationship between primary nocturnal enuresis (PNE) and left handedness. One author was seeking medical treatment advice for an 8-year-old son who suffered from nightly bedwetting episodes. The author has a brother who is left-handed and had pre-pubescent enuresis, and the author’s spouse had a sister who was a left-handed enuretic. Since the son was left-handed, the author asked the physician treating the boy if there was a genetic link or correlation between the two. The physician said he had never heard of a link, but that he so happened to be left-handed and was enuretic prior to puberty as well. This started a concept that was perpetuated by the fact that when the author sought a partner with a medical background for a preliminary study on the correlation, the first person consulted also responded that she was a left-handed sufferer of PNE. As xxxx said, “Serendipity is the al;jdkfof science”.

The purpose of this study was to collect preliminary data to support or refute the anecdotal evidence that describes an actual correlation between left-handedness and monosymptomatic PNE. Monosymptomatic PNE is the onset or continuation of consistent bedwetting after age 5 and up to age 15. These patients exhibit no obvious physiological reason for PNE, such as reduced bladder capacity (Johnson, 1998). Though there are many types of enuresis, this study is concerned with only this type of PNE, which

Method

Pearson correlations were analyzed for PNE and handedness.

A college student population was chosen for this survey because it was surmised that most would be of a post-pubescent age, possibly old enough to overcome some of the emotional trauma associated with PNE (xxx, 1980), yet young enough to clearly remember wetting the bed and remember siblings who did the same. Numbers of siblings and their statistics were used with the same weight as the conditions of the primary respondents.

left handers who had PNE, right handers who had PNE