Sleep quality matters more to community-dwelling individuals than nocturia frequency

Abstract

Objective:

The objective of this study is to identify variables that describe nocturia-related bother in a sample of community-dwelling individuals.

Materials and methods:

Community-dwelling individuals age 40 years and older who woke to pass urine at night completed an online questionnaire. Participants were asked (i) their top three concerns in relation to nocturia, (ii) to agree or disagree with a list of statements related to bother, and (iii) to complete the Nocturia Impact Diary items. Fisher exact test and the Mann–Whitney U test were used to assess whether differences in nocturia-related bother existed when comparing participants stratified by nocturia severity.

Results:

Moderate to extreme nocturia-related bother was described by 56% of the 202 respondents and by 68% of individuals with nocturia two or more times per night. Effects of nocturia, specifically sleep disruption and impact on daytime function, were the most cited concerns. Low nocturia-related health literacy was evident. The sample was younger (83% age <70 years), predominantly female (74%) and nocturia treatment naïve (95%).

Conclusion:

The study highlights the potential to evaluate patient care based on change in sleep and daytime function rather than solely on nocturia frequency. A suite of patient-reported outcome measures adjunctive to clinical data may have utility in quantifying meaningful change to patients after treatment for nocturia.

Level of evidence:

Not applicable for this multicentre audit.