Frequent urination

Frequent urination, or urinary frequency, is the need to urinate more often than usual.[1] It is often, though not necessarily, associated with urinary incontinence and polyuria (large total volume of urine). However, in other cases, urinary frequency involves only normal volumes of urine overall.

A frequent need to urinate at night is called nocturia.[1] Frequent urination is strongly associated with frequent incidents of urinary urgency.

Definition

The normal number of times varies according to the age of the person. Among young children, urinating 8 to 14 times each day is typical. This decreases to 6 to 12 times per day for older children, and to 4 to 6 times per day among teenagers.[2]

Causes

Frequent urination is a classic sign of urinary tract infection, where inflammation reduces the bladder's capacity to hold urine.[1] Other common causes are:

Other causes of polyuria may, less commonly, cause frequent urination.

Other causes of frequent urination by disturbance along the urinary tract include:

Less common causes include:[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 MedlinePlus > Frequent or urgent urination Updated by: Scott M. Gilbert. Update Date: 5/22/2008
  2. ↑ Gary Robert Fleisher, Stephen Ludwig, Fred M. Henretig. (2006) Textbook of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN 9780781750745. p. 663