Sleep Matters!

I have been struck by the results of a recent Harris Poll national online survey of 2,040 U.S. adults, on the effect of nocturia, awakening one or more at night to urinate. Their data shows that nocturia is not only a nighttime problem. 61% of nocturia sufferers noted that daytime activity and function were negatively impacted by their lack of sleep as 42% of sufferers feel drowsy, 21% site irritability, 17% are unable to perform or function and 15% report inability to concentrate. And the effect of nocturia is not only on the person with this symptom, but it also impacts who they sleep with or who also lives in the patient’s home. These patients visit me accompanied by their spouses or partners and both report sleep deprivation from nocturia. If living with a son or daughter caregiver, the act of hearing their parent awaken to walk to a bathroom or worrying about the effects of that activity, causes them to awaken.

I feel many clinicians do not understand that nocturia not only effects the person’s night but its effect carries over to the daytime. Also, many times, nocturia is not identified as a separate problem but confused with overactive bladder or enlarged prostate, but it is a separate symptom with differing causes. Many patients with nocturia do not have daytime symptoms of urgency and frequency.

UroToday’s Editor of the LUTS Center of Excellence, Dr. Ben Brucker, also commented on the Harris Poll noting that nocturia can be progressive “…….see patients who have suffered from nocturia for many years, as it slowly progresses from getting up twice to over four times per night ….”

The point of the Harris Poll is that nocturia is a 24/7 problem, treatment exists, and professionals need to ask patients about nighttime awakenings.

Harris Poll:
The Medical Condition 72 Percent of Americans Don’t Know About is Stealing Sleep and Disrupting Lives
Topic Interview with Benjamin Brucker

Written by: Diane Newman, DNP, CRNP, FAAN, BCB-PMD, Nurse Practitioner (NP), Co-Director, Penn Center for Continence and Pelvic Health Director, Clinical Trials, Division of Urology, Adjunct Professor of Urology in Surgery, Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Published Date: October 25th, 2018

References:
Kaminetsky J, Fein S, Dmochowski R, MacDiarmid S, Abrams S, Cheng M, Wein A. Efficacy and Safety of SER120 Nasal Spray in Patients with Nocturia: Pooled Analysis of 2 Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Phase 3 Trials. J Urol. 2018 Apr 12. pii: S0022-5347(18)42971-0. doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2018.04.050

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