Development of bladder control in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy

The study aimed to investigate the development of bladder control in childr en with cerebral palsy (CP) and to determinate subgroups with deviant devel opment of bladder control and a higher risk of not achieving urinary contin ence. Children and adolescents between the ages of 4 and 18 years with a di agnosis of CP, from six Dutch rehabilitation centres were included in the s tuds (n=601), Parents of these participants were sent a questionnaire, of w hom 76% responded, Prevalence of primary urinary incontinence was 23.5%. Su rvival curves were made to determine the development of achieving bladder c ontrol in CP. For participants who achieved urinary continence, the develop ment was delayed in comparison with normally developing children and adoles cents. The most important factors influencing the occurrence of urinary inc ontinence in CP were tetraplegia and low intellectual capacity, At age six, 54% of participants with spastic tetraplegia and 80% with spastic hemipleg ia or diplegia gained urinary continence spontaneously. Of those who had lo w intellectual capacity, 38% were dry at this age.