Impacts of nocturia on quality of life, mental health, work limitation, and health care seeking in China, Taiwan and South Korea (LUTS Asia): Results from a cross-sectional, population-based study

BACKGROUND

While nocturia has been proposed to be related to various systemic diseases and even mortality, there has been little information of the impact of nocturia in other aspects of physical and mental well-being. We evaluated the impact of nocturia on quality of life (QoL), mental health, work limitation, and health-care seeking behavior.

METHODS

An internet-based self-administered survey was distributed among individuals aged ≥40 years with the ability to use a computer and to read the local language. Survey questions included demographic details, International Continence Society symptom definitions and the international prostate symptom score. Impact on nocturia on health-related QoL physical and mental health domain, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score and Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ) measures was evaluated.

RESULTS

There were 8284 participants (women, 51%) of whom 34% were aged ≥60 years. Prevalence of nocturia ≥2 was 35% in men and 37% in women. Across both genders, QoL decreased with increasing frequency of nocturia. Besides nocturia, hypertension, presence of neurological disorder, lower urinary tract symptom measures and female gender were also associated with HADS anxiety and depression scores of ≥8. Nocturia significantly impacted work ability across WLQ measures. Though the utilization of prescription medications increased with the increase in frequency of nocturia, it was also noted that up to 30% of participants who reported nocturia frequency of ≥3 did not seek any treatment for their complaints.

CONCLUSION

Nocturia significantly affects QoL, work productivity, and mental well-being. However, healthcare utilization remains low and warrants increased awareness and education in the patients, caregivers and physicians.