Visual impairment, sleep and nocturia in the elderly

The aim of this study was to determine whether there was a relationship between visual impairment and nocturia in a group of elderly men and women. A questionnaire survey was undertaken among 10,216 elderly subjects. The mean (+/-S.D.) ages of the men and women were 73.0+/-6.0 and 72.6+/-6.7 years, respectively. Visual impairment was reported by 20.9% of the men and 32.9% of the women and was twice as common in men and 1.8 times more common in women of ages > or =80 as in those of ages <70 years. Occurrence of three or more nocturnal micturition episodes was 1.7 (1.2-2.3) times higher in men and 1.9 (1.5-2.4) times in women with visual impairment. In a multiple logistic regression analysis, significant independent correlates of three or more nocturnal micturition episodes versus two or fewer such episodes in men were: age, 70-79 years versus <70 years (odds ratio [OR] 1.6; confidence interval [CI] 1.1-2.6), age > or =80 years versus <70 years (1.7; 1.0-3.0), sleep, poor versus good (2.1; 1.4-3.2), and poor vision (1.8; 1.2-2.7). The corresponding odds ratios in women were: age 70-79 years versus <70 years (1.9; 1.3-2.7), age > or =80 years versus <70 years (2.1; 1.3-3.2), sleep, poor versus good (2.8; 2.1-3.7), and vision, poor versus good (1.6; 1.2-2.1).