Urination Frequency Ranges in Healthy Women.
Jean F Wyman, Charles H Cain, C Neill Epperson and 7 others
PMID 35319538WHAT IT FOUND
For healthy women without urinary problems, normal daytime urination was 2 to 10 times and nighttime urination was 0 to 4 times.
In elite healthy women, the ranges were 2 to 9 daytime and 0 to 2 nighttime.
Key findings
01In healthy women, the reference range was 2 to 10 daytime urinations and 0 to 4 nighttime urinations; in elite healthy women it was 2 to 9 daytime and 0 to 2 nighttime. Mean daytime frequency was 5.1 in healthy women and 5.0 in elite healthy women, and mean nighttime frequency was 1.1 and 0.7.
02Compared with younger healthy women, healthy women aged 45-64 reported 13% more daytime urinations, and healthy women aged 65+ reported 5% lower daytime frequency. Healthy women aged 65+ reported 39% more nighttime urinations than healthy women aged 31-44. Black and Hispanic healthy women reported 7% and 8% fewer daytime urinations than White healthy women, and 51% and 48% more nighttime urinations.
03Fluid intake showed varied associations. Healthy women consuming 75+ oz/day reported 6% more daytime urinations than those consuming 50-74 oz/day, and those consuming 49 oz/day or less reported 7% fewer daytime urinations and 13% fewer nighttime urinations. Healthy women consuming 8-15 oz/day or 16+ oz/day of carbonated drinks reported 19% and 40% more nighttime urinations than those consuming 0-7 oz/day. Healthy women consuming 1-16 oz/day of caffeinated drinks reported 20% fewer nighttime urinations than those consuming 0 oz/day. Healthy women consuming 1-24 oz/day of alcohol reported 10% greater daytime urination frequency, and those consuming 1-24 oz/day or 25+ oz/day reported 30% and 27% fewer nighttime urinations than non-drinkers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Daytime and nighttime urination frequency and fluid intake were self-reported, not measured with a bladder diary. The paper notes that previous bladder-diary research found about 47% of women overestimate daytime frequency. The elite healthy group had 300 women, compared with 1,505 in the healthy group, so many associations were similar in size but less likely to reach statistical significance. The analysis was cross-sectional, so it can describe patterns but cannot show that fluid intake caused changes in urination frequency. The timing of fluid intake finding was limited by missing data, with 15% missing for that variable. The sample was community women in Boston, and the data were collected years before the analysis, so current fluid habits and toileting environments may differ.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest. The supplied publication types indicate NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat urination up to 10 times by day or 4 times by night as proof of disease. These were within the study's healthy reference ranges, and the frequencies were self-reported rather than measured by bladder diary.