Abstract

Introduction Enuresis is a public health issue especially in the tropical areas and sometimes leads to dehumanizing and humiliating practices Various etiologies can explain the occurrence of enuresis of teenagers and adults especially epilepsy Materials and Methods We have carried out a prospective study on enuresis and epilepsy in Togo After the phase of recruiting enuresis and epilepsy patients at CHU- SO an investigation phase followed in three main cultural areas in Togo and focused on three groups of people the custodians of collective knowledge the general population 120 and the medical staff 225 Open-ended questions were about the knowledge and the behaviors in case of enuresis as the only symptom of epilepsy Results Enuresis is not considered like a manifestation of epilepsy in most subjects interviewed This poor knowledge epilepsy seems to explain the relative tolerance in patients with enuresis within the society But some attitudes and practices in the case of enuresis reveal risks of social death just like in non-treated epileptic subjects On the other hand adult subjects with enuresis revealed attitudes and practices that are conducive to care for the patients with enuresis and epilepsy