Mortality in the elderly in relation to nocturnal micturition

Objective To study the relationship between nocturnal micturition and morta lity in an elderly population. Subjects and methods All 10216 members of the Swedish pensioners' associati on (SPF) in two Swedish counties were asked to participate in a questionnai re survey. The questions concerned the general state of health, occurrence of somatic diseases and symptoms, number of voiding episodes per night, eve ryday habits and behaviour, and the use of drugs. After 6 years, data on de aths were extracted from the National Register of Deaths at the National Ce ntral Bureau of Statistics in Stockholm. Results There were 6143 evaluable questionnaires, of which 39.5% were from men. The mean (SD) ages of the men and women participating were 73.0 (6.0) and 72.6 (6.7) years, respectively. During a 54-month period after the ques tionnaire was completed, 444 of the men and 384 of the women died. The men with three or more nocturnal voiding episodes had a higher death rate, at 1 .9 (1.4-2.6) times more than the whole group of men (3.4% vs 1.9% per 6 mon ths; P<0.001), and the corresponding women a death rate 1.3 (0.9-2.0) times higher than all women (1.4% vs 1.1% per 6 months, not significant). In a m ultiple logistic regression analysis, significant independent correlates of death during the study period were: being 70-79 years vs <70 years (odds r atio, OR, 1.92, 95% CI 1.52-2.43), being greater than or equal to 80 years vs <70 years (5.14, 3.96-6.68), female gender (0.44, 0.37-0.52), health (1. 81, 1.46-2.25), negative health development (1.70, 1.40-2.06), spasmodic ch est pain (1.38, 1.09-1.74), diabetes (1.59, 1.18-2.15), stroke (1.82, 1.12- 2.93), and three or more vs two or fewer voiding episodes (1.34, 1.01-1.79) . Conclusion Elderly people who need to void three or more times per night ha d a greater mortality rate over a 54-month observation period than those vo iding less often.