Objectives: To validate a new questionnaire evaluating nocturia, nocturnal enuresis and sleep-interruptions in an elderly population of men and women in Denmark.

M.H. Bing^a, L.A. Moller^a, P. Jennum^b, S. Mortensen^c, G. Lose^a
aDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Glostrup Hospital, University of Copenhagen, DK-2600 Glostrup, Denmark
^bDepartment of Clinical Neurophysiology, Glostrup Hospital, University of Copenhagen, DK-2600 Glostrup, Denmark
^cDepartment of Urology, Glostrup Hospital, University of Copenhagen, DK-2600 Glostrup, Denmark

Accepted 24 November 2005 published online 16 January 2006.

Abstract

Objectives

To validate a new questionnaire evaluating nocturia, nocturnal enuresis and sleep-interruptions in an elderly population of men and women in Denmark.

Methods

The Nocturia, Nocturnal Enuresis and Sleep-interruption Questionnaire (NNES-Q) emerged from review of the literature and expert consensus. The questionnaire was a subset of a larger questionnaire comprising several domains on health status and voiding. Convergent and discriminatory validity was assessed in an unselected population of 2000 men and 2000 women 60–80 years old. To test reproducibility, 400 respondents were mailed a separate questionnaire 2 weeks apart. A subgroup of men and women with and without nocturia was used for evaluating reliability of number of nocturia episodes.

Results

A total of 2825 (70.6%) filled in the questionnaire. A decrease in health status was correlated with increasing bother (range: -0.25 to -0.36, p<0.001, Spearman's r). These findings indicate acceptable convergent validity. Significant discriminatory validity was proven in separate groups of symptom severity (p<0.0001, Kruskal-Wallis test). Median kappa was 0.70 (range 0.58–0.86) indicating substantial agreement in the retest analysis. Number of nocturia episodes in questionnaires correlated with frequency volume charts (Spearman's rho 0.88; p<0.001).

Conclusion

These data support that the NNES-Q has a good discriminatory and convergent validity, and is reliable over time. The NNES-Q may be useful in epidemiological studies and may also have a potential in daily clinical work up in patients with nocturia and nocturnal enuresis.

European Urology - 2006 04 (Vol. 49, Issue 4) p.710-719 Full Text

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