Nocturia increases the incidence of depressive symptoms: a longitudinal study of the HEIJO‐KYO cohort

Objectives To evaluate the association between nocturia and the incidence of depressive symptoms. Participants and Methods Of 1 127 participants in the HEIJO‐KYO population‐based cohort, 866 elderly individuals (mean age 71.5 years) without depressive symptoms at baseline were followed for a median period of 23 months. Nocturnal voiding frequency was logged using a standardized urination diary and nocturia was defined as a frequency of ≥2 voids per night. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale. Results During the follow‐up period, 75 participants reported the development of depressive symptoms (score ≥6). The nocturia group (n = 239) exhibited a significantly higher hazard ratio (HR) for incident depressive symptoms than the non‐nocturia group (n = 627) in the Cox proportional hazard model, which was adjusted for age, gender, alcohol consumption, day length and presence of hypertension and chronic kidney disease (HR 1.69, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05–2.72; P = 0.032]. The significance remained after adjustment for sleep disturbances (HR 1.68, 95% CI 1.02–2.75; P = 0.040). Analysis stratified by gender showed that the association between nocturia and the incidence of depressive symptoms was significant in men (HR 2.51, 95% CI 1.27–4.97; P = 0.008) but not in women (HR 1.12, 95% CI 0.53–2.44; P = 0.74). Conclusions Nocturia is significantly associated with a higher incidence of depressive symptoms in the general elderly population, and gender differences may underlie this association.