Overactive bladder and caffeine: comparing women with and without mental health diagnoses

Abstract

Caffeine is a stimulant thought to activate the pleasure centre in the brain, commonly used in the general public for purposeful attempt to alter mood, and also commonly perceived to be a bladder irritant with associated urgency and frequency symptoms. Mental health diagnosis, such as depression, is also associated with overactive bladder. Taken together, it is plausible that women with overactive bladder symptoms along with comorbid mental health symptoms may also show higher caffeine intake but no data exist. This pilot study's purpose was to determine in women with overactive bladder, if those with a mental health diagnosis (we included anxiety, depression, post‐traumatic stress disorder and bipolar diagnosis) consume a significantly higher amount of caffeine than those without any of these diagnoses. Secondary analysis was performed on data from women with overactive bladder recruited into a longitudinal parent study on beverage management. All parent study participants met criteria of urgency and voiding more than seven times per day. Each kept a detailed 3‐day diary of beverage intake. From the total parent study pool of 61, we identified 14 women with a comorbid mental health diagnosis as described above and 47 without when interviewed at baseline. Women with mental health diagnosis demonstrated higher median baseline caffeine intake per day than their counterparts without mental health diagnosis: 240·2 mg (range: 72·3–576·0 mg) versus 174·3 mg (range: 0–567·6 mg), which was marginally significant (p = · 053). Volume of caffeinated beverage intake did not differ significantly. In women with overactive bladder and comorbid mental health symptoms, higher caffeine intake may be a previously unrecognized link. Cause and effect is unknown between the three conditions of overactive bladder, mental health disorders and higher caffeine intake; but this initial data support the need for further research.