Management Options for Nocturia.

Dr. Dmochowski: The strict definition of nocturia, or arising from sleep to urinate, is any occurrence of this event that disturbs sleep. Bothersome nocturia usually occurs when two or more nocturic events occur per night. Usually nocturia is defined as a urinary event that has occurred after a period of initial sleep and is followed by an attempt to return to sleep. As it is emphasized by this definition, abnormalities of sleep may clearly impact an individual’s ability to fall asleep initially or to return to sleep after being awoken by the need to void. However, as with all the things pertaining to lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), bother is experienced differently by different individuals. Some younger individuals are greatly bothered by a single event of nocturia, whereas some relatively older individuals tend to not be bothered until the frequency of nocturia increases to three or four times a night. The incidence of nocturia increases with age and some studies have noted as many as 30% of unique populations over the age of 60 being impacted by this condition. Incidence is contingent upon criteria used to define the condition, meaning that the overall occurrence of nocturia is more significant if a single event per night is used for the definition versus those studies that use a greater occurrence for the definition. Whichever definition is chosen, this condition is very common and often very impactful to a variety of issues related to an individual’s daytime cognitive and emotional status and the quality of sleep that the individual can attain.