A randomized controlled trial of the effects of hydrochlorothiazide on overactive bladder and idiopathic hypercalciuria

Overactive bladder is a stressful condition which affects around 15%—20% of 5- year-old and up to 2% of young adults. One of the most common causes of overactive bladder is hypercalciuria. Our study investigated the effect of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) on overactive bladder and hypercalciuria. This randomized controlled trial was conducted on 88 patients with overactive bladder and idiopathic hypercalciuria. They were randomly divided into the intervention group receiving 1 mg/kg/day of HCTZ for 3 months, and the control group receiving training without any intervention. Treatment compliance and response were reviewed monthly in each patient using a 30-day bedwetting diary. In the 1 st month, the mean of bedwetting was 14.47 ± 7.06 and 12.61 ± 7.57 in the intervention and control groups, respectively ( P = 0.23). In the 2 nd month, it was 10.04 ± 6.32 and 10.79 ± 7.83 in the intervention and control groups, respectively ( P = 0.62); and in the 3 rd month, it was 6.49 ± 7.13 and 7.64 ± 7.95 in the intervention and control groups, respectively ( P = 0.59). There was no significant difference between the two groups. Thus, use of HCTZ was not found to be better than urine retention control training. Therefore, one may conclude that treating hypercalciuria with HCTZ had no demonstrable effect on overactive bladder.