Association between obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and nocturia: a meta-analysis

Background The relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and the risk of nocturia remains unclear. Therefore, we sought to identify whether or not OSA affects the incidence of nocturia. Methods A thorough literature search was executed in September 1st 2018 from PubMed, Web of Science database, and Embase. We used DerSimonian and Laird random-effects to calculate the pooled relative ratio (RR). Results Total of 13 studies met inclusion criteria and in total comprised, 406 patients and 9518 controls. There was a significant association between OSA and the risk of nocturia (RR = 1.41, 95% CI 1.26-1.59). Through subgroup analysis by different severity of OSA, we found patients who had severe OSA were at high risk of nocturia. Through another subgroup analysis, we found a statistically significant association between OSA and risk of nocturia in the men (RR = 1.487, 95% CI 1.087-2.034,P = 0.013). However, there was no significant relationship between OSA and nocturia in the women (RR = 1.537, 95% CI 0.831-2.842,P > 0.05). Subgroup analysis of different diagnostic methods indicated that OSA was significantly associated with the risk of nocturia regardless what method was used to diagnose OSA (P < 0.05). Conclusion The findings suggest that men with OSA have a high incidence of nocturia. A large multicenter study may be useful to explore the relationship between OSA and nocturia, in order to elucidate its causes.