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Nocturia in Men With Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Associated With Benign Prostatic Enlargement
abstract
This abstract is available on the publisher's site.
Access this abstract now Full Text Available for ClinicalKey SubscribersBACKGROUND
Nocturia is one of the most prevalent and bothersome lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in men, leading to increased morbidity and mortality and a considerable economic burden on healthcare systems. Understanding its natural history, effect of pharmacotherapy, and predictors of failure of pharmacotherapy would allow optimised patient management.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the prevalence and effect of clinically relevant nocturia (crN) on quality of life in a contemporary cohort of European men aged ≥50 yr in a "real-life" setting, to understand its natural history, to detect any effect of pharmacotherapy, and to identify predictors of pharmacotherapy failure.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
This is a secondary analysis of the data from the Evolution Registry-a European, multicentre, prospective, observational registry, conducted in five European countries within a sample of general practitioners' and urologists' clinics. A consecutive sample of 2175 men aged ≥50 yr with LUTS in association with benign prostatic enlargement was enrolled between February 2010 and April 2011, and followed up for 2yr. Overall, data from 1838 men were suitable for analysis.
OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
The primary outcome was evaluation of the baseline incidence of nocturia in the study population. Secondary outcomes included the impact of nocturia on quality of life, efficacy of pharmacotherapy, and predictive factors associated with persistence of nocturia. Descriptive statistics were used to examine the data. Logistic regressions were used to analyse associations between comorbid conditions and risk factors in men with nocturia.
RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS
Overall, 1198 men (65%) reported crN (two or more voids per night). This increased age dependently from 59% in the 50-59-yr age group (n=74) to 89% in the 80-99-yr age group (n=25). Overall, the incidence of crN improved in those who commenced pharmacological treatment at study entry, from 69% at baseline to 49% at 24 mo (p<0.00001). This was statistically significant only in those <80 yr old. A weak correlation was found between the severity of nocturia at baseline and quality-of-life scores on the International Prostate Symptom Score questionnaire (r=0.33, p<0.001). Of the patients treated with an alpha-blocker or a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor, 62% still had crN at 24 mo.
CONCLUSIONS
Almost two-thirds of men in the Evolution Registry reported clinically significant nocturia with increased incidence with age. Despite prostate-targeted treatment, most patients, especially older men, still had persistent or worsening nocturia at 2-yr follow-up, and in this study, it was not possible to identify specific clinical factors that predicted those who could respond well to treatment in this regard.
PATIENT SUMMARY
This large study of men from five different European countries has shown that waking up at night to pass urine (nocturia) is very common and becomes more common with older age, and treatments that target the prostate do not significantly improve symptoms over 2yr in most men.
Additional Info
Disclosure statements are available on the authors' profiles:
Incidence of Nocturia in Men With Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Associated with Benign Prostatic Enlargement and Outcomes After Medical Treatment: Results From the Evolution European Association of Urology Research Foundation Prospective Multinational Registry
Eur Urol Focus 2019 Jul 22;[EPub Ahead of Print], S Malde, A Patel, L Martínez-Piñeiro, A de la Taille, A Bjartell, A Tubaro, W Witjes, C CarisFrom MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
On first glance, the article by Malde et al excites the imagination that we might finally learn of real-world treatment outcomes in men with nocturia. To date, the only level 1 evidence on nocturia outcomes derives from Pharma studies; hence, the interest in data provided by studies of lesser levels of evidence. The present article confirms what we already thought we knew: Nocturia is common, increases in incidence over time, and is accentuated in older people; nocturia is treatment-resistant, particularly when therapy consists of medications ordinarily targeting prostatic obstruction and overactive bladder. Missing from the cohort studied that would have been of particular interest include outcomes of outlet-reducing surgery and antidiuretic therapy.
In general, this article highlights the tremendous cost and energy invested in nocturia treatment, to little avail overall. We need to understand better the causes of nocturia in order to develop improved strategies designed to benefit patients and trim unnecessary healthcare expenditures.