The Association of Depression, Anxiety and Nocturia: A Systematic Review

PurposeThis systematic review focuses on the relationship between nocturia and depression/anxiety. Our objective is to provide an overview of current data on the epidemiology, pathophysiology and patient management implications of the association between nocturia and depression/anxiety.Materials and MethodsWe queried PubMed®, Web of Science® and Embase™ in July 2012 to identify abstracts, and original, review and editorial articles on nocturia and mood disorders, specifically depression and anxiety. The search was done using the key words “nocturia,” “depression” and “anxiety.” We complied with the Assessment of Multiple Systemic Reviews (AMSTAR) instrument. We retrieved a total of 500 records, including 95, 81 and 324 from PubMed, Web of Science and Embase, respectively.ResultsCross-sectional (level 3) data indicated that nocturia and depression/anxiety are strongly associated. One prospective study contended that depression leads to nocturia in a unidirectional relationship. Nocturia poses a greater risk for depression in men vs women. Results conflict on the effect of serotonin reuptake inhibitors on nocturia.ConclusionsThe results of this systematic review suggest a bidirectional association between depression and nocturia. The relationship between anxiety and nocturia is less clear. Practicing clinicians should consider administering a brief self-administered scale to assess for depression in patients with nocturia.