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The impact of nocturia on mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis

  • Jori S. Pesonen,
  • Rufus Cartwright,
  • Robin W.M. Vernooij,
  • Yoshitaka Aoki,
  • Arnav Agarwal,
  • Altaf Mangera,
  • Alayne D. Markland,
  • Johnson F. Tsui,
  • Henrikki Santti,
  • Tomas L. Griebling,
  • Alexey E. Pryalukhin,
  • Jarno Riikonen,
  • Riikka M. Tähtinen,
  • Camille P. Vaughan,
  • Theodore M. Johnson,
  • Anssi Auvinen,
  • Diane Heels-Ansdell,
  • Gordon H. Guyatt,
  • Kari A.O. Tikkinen

Purpose:

Nocturia (waking from sleep at night to void) is a common cause of sleep disruption and associated with increased comorbidity and impaired quality of life. However, its impact on mortality remains unclear. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association of nocturia with mortality, both as a prognostic and causal risk factor.

Materials and Methods:

We searched PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL and major conference abstracts up to December 31, 2018. Random effects meta-analyses addressed adjusted relative risks (RR) of mortality for people with nocturia and a meta-regression explored potential determinants of heterogeneity, including risk of bias. We applied the GRADE framework to rate the quality of evidence for nocturia as a prognostic risk factor for mortality and, separately, as a cause of mortality.

Results:

Of 5230 identified reports, 11 observational studies proved eligible. For the assessment of nocturia, ten studies used symptom questionnaires and one frequency-volume charts. Nocturia was defined as ≥2 episodes/night in six (55%), and as ≥3 episodes/night in five (45%) studies. Pooled estimates demonstrated a risk ratio of 1.27 (95% confidence interval 1.16-1.40; I 2=48%; absolute 5-year mortality difference 1.6% and 4.0% in people aged 60 and 75 years, respectively). The pooled estimates of relative risk did not differ significantly across varying age, gender, follow-up time, nocturia case definition, risk of bias, or study region. We rated the quality of evidence for nocturia as a prognostic factor as moderate and as a cause of mortality as very low.

Conclusions:

Nocturia is probably associated with an approximately 1.3-fold increased risk of death.

Expert's summary

The same authors as the previous article performed also a systematic review and meta-analysis on the impact of nocturia on mortality. Although nocturia is a common cause of sleep disruption and associated with increased comorbidity and impaired quality of life, its impact on mortality remains unclear. These authors performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association of nocturia with mortality, both as a prognostic and causal risk factor.

PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL and major conference abstracts were analysed up to December 31, 2018. Random effects meta-analyses were performed to address the adjusted relative risks (RR) of mortality for individuals with nocturia and a meta-regression was used to explore potential determinants of heterogeneity, including risk of bias. They applied the GRADE framework to rate the quality of evidence for nocturia as a prognostic risk factor for mortality and, separately, as a cause of mortality.

Of 5230 identified reports, 11 observational studies proved eligible. For the assessment of nocturia, 10 studies used symptom questionnaires and 1 frequency-volume charts. Nocturia was defined as ≥2 episodes/night in six (55%), and as ≥3 episodes/night in five (45%) studies. Pooled estimates demonstrated a risk ratio of 1.27 (95% confidence interval 1.16-1.40; I2=48%; absolute 5-year mortality difference 1.6% and 4.0% in people aged 60 and 75 years, respectively). The pooled estimates of relative risk did not differ significantly across varying age, gender, follow-up time, nocturia case definition, risk of bias, or study region. Based on the existing data as studied, the quality of evidence for nocturia as a prognostic factor was rated as moderate and as a cause of mortality as very low.

The general conclusion states that nocturia is probably associated only with an approximately 1.3-fold increased risk of death.

Expert's comment

Based on this study nocturia can be used as a prognostic factor and can be a reason for further health/morbidity analysis in individuals affected.