[Nocturia is not associated with falls among the elderly: a population study in the city of São Paulo].
BACKGROUND
the present study aims to evaluate the association between nocturia and falls in a group of community-living elderly men in the city of São Paulo (Brazil).


METHODS
under the coordination of the Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization, a multicenter study named Health, Welfare and Aging (SABE Study) is being conducted to evaluate the living and health conditions of older people in Latin America and Caribbean. In Brazil, this study is evaluating the elderly population (60 years or more) in São Paulo since 2000. The presence of nocturia was taken as the response "yes" to the question "Do you need to void three times or more at night?" .The presence of falls was also taken as the response "yes" to the question "Did you have any fall during the last 12 months?" The intergroup analysis used was the logistic regression.


RESULTS
total of 865 men was interviewed, mean age 68 years. It was observed high prevalence of nocturia and falls in all groups, with higher prevalence of both in the eldest group (p<0.001), however, the association of nocturia and falls was not statistically significant in any of the groups (p=0.45).


CONCLUSIONS
this is one of the pioneering studies that assess only the male population, showing that nocturia was not significantly associated with falls. Nocturia and falls are highly prevalent conditions in the elderly, but no association was found between both, so that these variables may be correlated to age and other clinical conditions.
Departamento de Urología, Universidad Federal de São Paulo, Brasil.
J S
JS
Rustom
F
F
Lorenzetti
T
T
Tamanini
M L
ML
Lebrão
M
M
Dambros
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D053158:Nocturia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014504:Urban Health