Research by the National Association For Continence (NAFC) about nocturia in middle-aged American women appears in the current issue of Urologic Nursing, the official journal of the Society of Urologic Nurses and Associates (SUNA). The purpose of this research was to assess the severity of overactive bladder (OAB) and nocturia in middle-aged American women, their attitudes about seeking treatment and the impact of symptoms of OAB, including nocturia, on quality-of-life.

The American Urological Association (AUA) defines nocturia as “the need to urinate at least twice during the night.” This definition was used by NAFC in this study to analyze the impact of nocturia. On behalf of NAFC, Kelton Research, a California-based consumer research and marketing services firm, administered online interviews between March 18 and March 31, 2009 with 1,111 American women. A control group was comprised of 500 female, non-OAB sufferers, ages 40 - 65. The remaining 611 women with symptoms of OAB were divided into three categories: women who have never been treated, women who were currently undergoing treatment and women who stopped their treatment.

Based on this study, 63% of the nationally represented American women, in the control group, reported that not getting enough sleep disrupts their sense of “normalcy.”

The results of this study illustrate how nocturia impacts quality-of-life and could be a factor for disrupting a person’s sense of normalcy. NAFC found that nearly half of women with OAB report that they experience nocturia, with 1 in 5 experiencing severe nocturia, going to the bathroom four or more times per night. Respondents with nocturia were more likely to report suffering from depression than those self-reporting OAB but without nocturia. These results suggest that nocturia significantly impacts a woman’s quality-of-life. Women with OAB including nocturia are no more likely to seek treatment for their symptoms than women without nocturia and those who have gotten treatment have not had positive experiences. From the findings of this study, NAFC recommends that primary care providers address OAB and nocturia during regular visits with patients and that specialty physicians should make extra effort to make patients aware of all treatment options and keep them engaged in their treatment.

More information about the study can be found on SUNA’s website, http://www.suna.org.

About NAFC
The National Association For Continence is a 501(c) 3 corporation whose mission is threefold: 1) to educate the public about the causes, diagnosis categories, treatment options and management alternatives for incontinence, voiding dysfunction, nocturnal enuresis and related pelvic floor disorders; 2) to network with other organizations and agencies to elevate the visibility and priority given to these areas; and 3) to advocate on behalf of consumers who suffer from such symptoms as a result of disease or other illness, obstetrical, surgical or other trauma, or deterioration due to the aging process itself. NAFC is broadly funded by consumers, healthcare professionals and industry. It is the world’s largest and most prolific consumer advocacy organization devoted exclusively to this field.

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Source: National Association For Continence (NAFC)