Prevalence and Predictors of Night Sweats, Day Sweats, and Hot Flashes in Older Primary Care Patients: An OKPRN Study

James W. Mold; Michelle Roberts; Hesham M. Aboshady

doi:10.1370/afm.72

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Table 1.

Characteristics of the Patient Population (N = 795)

Characteristic	Percent (n)
Note: mean age = 73.3 y (SD = 5.8).
*Alcohol use ≥4 drinks at single sitting within past 3 months.
Sex, female	56.6 (450)
Race
White	88.2 (701)
African American	8.8 (70)
Other	3.0 (24)
Income
<$15,000	18.1 (138)
$15,000–34,999	44.4 (339)
$35,000–54,999	19.6 (150)
$55,000–74,999	10.3 (79)
>$75,000	7.6 (58)
Education
<12 years	15.0 (119)
HS diploma	26.4 (210)
College	47.8 (380)
Graduate degree	10.8 (86)
Cigarette use	7.5 (60)
Excessive alcohol use*	6.3 (50)

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Table 2.

Prevalence of Night Sweats, Day Sweats, and Hot Flashes, by Sex of Patient

Sex	Night Sweats % (95% CI)*	Day Sweats % (95% CI)*	Hot Flashes % (95% CI)*
CI = confidence interval.
*Confidence interval determined by the binomial method for proportions.
Female (n = 450)	11.3 (8.4–14.3)	10.2 (7.4–13.1)	10.2 (7.4–13.0)
Male (n = 345)	9.0 (6.0–12.0)	6.7 (4.0–9.3)	4.7 (2.4–6.9)
Total (N = 795)	10.3 (8.2–12.4)	8.7 (6.7–10.7)	7.8 (5.9–9.7)

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Table 3.

Multivariate Associations Between Night Sweats, Day Sweats, and Hot Flashes and Relevant Sociodemographic, Anthropometric, Symptom, and Disease Variables

Variable	Night Sweats OR (95%CI)	Day Sweats OR (95% CI)	Hot Flashes OR (95% CI)
Note: numbers in table are odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals from logistic regression models.
OR = odds ratio; CI = confidence interval.
* P <.01.
† P <.001.
‡ P <.0001.
§ P = .05.
Age, y	0.94/y (0.89-0.98)*	—	—
Race (nonwhite)	—	—	3.10 (1.60-598)^†
Fever	12.60 (6.58-24.14)^‡	4.10 (2.14-7.87)^†	3.98 (1.97-8.04)^‡
Muscle cramps	2.84 (1.53-5.24)^†	—	—
Hearing loss	1.84 (1.03-3.27)^§	—	—
Vision problems	2.45 (1.41-4.27)*	—	2.12 (1.19-3.79)^§
Numbness in hands and feet	3.34 (1.92-5-81)^‡	—	—
Restless legs	—	3.22 (1.76-5.89)^‡	—
Lightheadedness	—	2.24 (1.30-3.88)^‡	—
Diabetes	—	2.19 (1.22-3-92)*	—
Nervous spells	—	—	1.87 (1.01-3.46)^‡
Bone pain	—	—	2.31 (1.30-4.08)*

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Table 4.

Multivariate Associations Between Night Sweats, Day Sweats, and Hot Flashes and Quality of Life, Controlling for Age, Sex, Education, Income, and Race

QOL Measure	Night Sweats	Day Sweats	Hot Flashes
Note: numbers shown in table are β coefficients from linear regression models.
QOL = quality of life; HUI3 = Health Utility Index Mark 3; NS = not significant; QWB-SA = Quality of Well-Being Scale Self-Administered; SF-36 = Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36.
* P <.05.
† P <.001.
‡ P <.0001.
HUI3	NS	NS	NS
QWB-SA	−0.045*	NS	NS
SF-36
General health	−8.179	−8.262^†	−7.006^†
Vitality	−9.473^†	−12.743^‡	−7.771^†
Physical functioning	−13.338^‡	−13.368^†	−9.672^†
Role–physical	−19.054^†	−18.615	NS
Mental health	−4.357*	−4.212*	NS
Role–emotional	−16.682^‡	−9.892*	NS
Social functioning	−6437*	−11.544^†	NS
Bodily pain	−11.061^‡	−13.196^‡	NS

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Supplemental data: Appendix 1 - PDF file, 2 pages, 56 KB
The Article in Brief

Although patients often experience and have questions about night sweats, there has been little research on this condition. Many elderly people in particular experience night sweats, day sweats, or hot flashes. This study found that older people with these conditions are more likely to have other symptoms as well. People with night sweats are also likely to have fever, muscle cramps, numbness in the hands or feet, vision problems, and hearing loss. People with day sweats are likely to have fever, restless legs, lightheadedness, and diabetes. People with hot flashes are likely to have fever, bone pain, vision problems, and nervous spells. The presence of night sweats, days sweats, or hot flashes can provide important clues to other conditions that the patient might be experiencing.