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The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine 23 (1): 97-103 (2010)
DOI: 10.3122/jabfm.2010.01.090052
© 2010 American Board of Family Medicine
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Original Research

The Prognostic Implications of Night Sweats in Two Cohorts of Older Patients

James W. Mold, MD, MPH and Frank Lawler, MD

From the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City

Correspondence: Corresponding author: James W. Mold, MD, MPH, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 900 NE 10th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104 (E-mail: james-mold{at}ouhsc.edu)

Background: When asked, a significant number of patients report having experienced night sweats. Those who do are more likely to report decreased physical health, mental health, and quality of life. In most cases the cause of night sweats is unknown. We therefore do not know how much to worry about patients with this symptom. The present study examined associations between night sweats and mortality.

Methods: We used logistic regression and proportional hazards analyses to investigate potential predictors of mortality, including night sweats reported at baseline, among 2 different cohorts of people older than 65 years of age (n = 682 and n = 852) who were followed for an average of 7.3 and 7.5 years, respectively.

Results: Patients who reported night sweats were not more likely to die or to die sooner than those who did not report night sweats after controlling for age, sex, body mass index, education, and income. This held true as well for patients who reported more severe night sweats among the cohort in which the severity of night sweats was quantified.

Conclusions: Patients who report night sweats on a primary care health history questionnaire do not seem, on average, to be at increased risk for mortality.


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