Nocturia in older adults has been reported to be a risk factor for cardiovascular outcomes, and the stiffening of large arteries might be an underlying mechanism. To clarify the possible association between nocturia and arterial stiffness, we analyzed a dataset from the Japanese general population. Study participants consisted of 5928 community residents (mean age: 60.0 ± 11.8 years). The frequency of nocturnal urination was recorded for 1 week using a sleep diary. Arterial stiffness was assessed by brachial-to-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). Sleep blood pressure was measured automatically at 0000, 0200, and 0400 hours by wearing a cuff on the upper arm during sleep. The mean baPWV was 1278 ± 227 cm/s. The frequency of nocturnal urination showed a linear positive association with baPWV (P < 0.001). The association between a sleep diary-based nocturnal urination frequency > 1.5 times/night (corresponding to a ≥ 2 times/night frequency obtained by the questionnaire) and baPWV remained significant after adjusting for major covariates, including office blood pressure (β = 0.051, P < 0.001) and sleep blood pressure (β = 0.040, P < 0.001). This association was more prominent in men (β = 0.069, P < 0.001) than in women (β = 0.023, P = 0.013), particularly in older (β = 0.068, P = 0.006) compared with younger (β = 0.029, P = 0.270) men. Frequent nocturnal urination was independently associated with baPWV in older men. Nocturia may be a marker for cardiovascular disease risks that cannot be assessed by conventional risk factors such as blood pressure.

Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension. 2019 Aug 09 [Epub ahead of print]

Yasuharu Tabara, Takeshi Matsumoto, Kimihiko Murase, Kazuya Setoh, Takahisa Kawaguchi, Shunsuke Nagashima, Shinji Kosugi, Toyohiro Hirai, Takeo Nakayama, Tomoko Wakamura, Kazuo Chin, Fumihiko Matsuda, and the Nagahama study group

Center for Genomic Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan. ., Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan., Department of Respiratory Care and Sleep Control Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan., Center for Genomic Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan., Department of Human Health Science, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan., Department of Medical Ethics and Medical Genetics, Kyoto University School of Public Health, Kyoto, Japan., Department of Health Informatics, Kyoto University School of Public Health, Kyoto, Japan.

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