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. 2025 May 17;17(5):e84302.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.84302. eCollection 2025 May.

Coexistence of Nocturia and Frailty and Its Effect on Polypharmacy in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Kyo Takahashi  1   2 , Tomoki Tanaka  1 , Yasuyo Yoshizawa  3   1 , Mahiro Fujisaki-Sueda-Sakai  1 , Katsuya Iijima  1   4
Affiliations

Coexistence of Nocturia and Frailty and Its Effect on Polypharmacy in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Kyo Takahashi et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Introduction: Early interventions for nocturia and frailty are increasingly emphasized to extend healthy life expectancy. These interventions may lead to an increase in the number of drugs administered, potentially resulting in polypharmacy. This study examined the association between nocturia, coexisting frailty, and polypharmacy in community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: We selected 891 older adults without cognitive dysfunction (470 men, 421 women) from a population-based study conducted in 2016 in Kashiwa City, Japan. The association between nocturia, frailty, and polypharmacy was evaluated using sex-stratified logistic regression analysis.

Results: The prevalence of nocturia, frailty, and their coexistence was 56.4%, 6.2%, and 4.0% in men, and 35.2%, 3.8%, and 2.6% in women, respectively. Polypharmacy was observed in 19.4% of men and 13.1% of women. Compared to the group without nocturia or frailty, the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for polypharmacy was 2.47 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.29-4.71) in men and 0.99 (95% CI: 0.50-1.95) in women in the group with either nocturia or frailty. The AORs for the group with both nocturia and frailty were 5.33 (95% CI: 1.56-18.17) in men and 1.20 (95% CI: 0.23-6.17) in women.

Conclusion: Polypharmacy is more likely in older men when nocturia and frailty coexist. It is important to ensure that the treatment of nocturia and frailty does not result in a significant increase in the number of medications prescribed.

Keywords: frailty; healthy aging; nocturia; older adult; polypharmacy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. The Research Ethics Committee of the University of Tokyo issued approval 24-229 (change of 12-8). Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: This work was supported by a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research under Grants 21K11653 and 23H01587 (https://www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-grants/index.html. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Participant selection process
Figure 2
Figure 2. Different odds ratios among the three groups by sex
The “neither nocturia nor frailty” group was used as a reference. Age and history of non-communicable diseases (heart disease, cancer, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, and dyslipidemia) were entered as covariates into each logistic regression analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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