Nocturia and OSA in older males

January 01, 0001

Nocturia and OSA in older males

Nocturia is a symptom often attributed to benign prostatic enlargement (BPE) in males. These Israeli researched looked at whether nocturia in BPE patients may be actually related to obstructive sleep Apnea using a cross-sectional study of primary care clinics. They compared men with BPE and one or more nocturia who were 55 to 75 years old with a similar aged group without BPE and with either no or one episode of nocturia per night. The looked for symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (SOSA) using the Berlin questionnaire.

The researchers found: "Patients with BPE were significantly more likely to report weight gain (21% vs 10%), loudness of snoring (22.6% vs 4%), daytime sleepiness (35.3% vs 12.0%), and hypertension (61.8% vs 41.0%). Fifty- nine patients (57.8%) in the research group were considered high risk for OSA compared with 31 patients (31.0%) from the comparison group. The odds ratio (OR) for SOSA gradually increased from 1.00 in patients reporting no nocturia to 2.44, 5.75, and 12.3 in patients reporting 1, 2 to 3, and greater than 3 episodes of nocturia per night, respectively."

The researchers concluded: "The odds for SOSA increased log- linearly in correlation with the number of nocturia episodes. We imply that nocturic episodes in patients with BPE may suggest the presence of OSA. Physicians following patients with BPE who report frequent awakenings from sleep to urinate should suspect OSA as a possible comorbidity."

Nocturia may be associated with obstructive sleep apnea rather than purely urinary pathology


For the full abstract, click here.

The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine 24(2):146-151, March 2011 © 2011 American Board of Family Medicine
Nocturic Episodes in Patients with Benign Prostatic Enlargement May Suggest the Presence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Howard Tandeter, Sammy Gendler, Jacob Dreiher, and Ariel Tarasiuk. Correspondence to Howard Tandeter: [email protected]

Category: R. Respiratory, U. Urinary System. Keywords: prostate, BPH, nocturia, OSA, apnea, cross sectional study, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Paul Schaefer, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 8 April 2011

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

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