Frequent urination, or urinary frequency, is the need to urinate more often than usual. It is often, though not necessarily, associated with urinary incontinence

Urinary incontinence

Urinary incontinence is any involuntary leakage of urine. It is a common and distressing problem, which may have a profound impact on quality of life. Urinary incontinence almost always results from an underlying treatable medical condition but is under-reported to medical practitioners...

 and polyuria

Polyuria

Polyuria is a condition usually defined as excessive or abnormally large production or passage of urine . Frequent urination is sometimes included by definition, but is nonetheless usually an accompanying symptom...

.

A frequent need to urinate at night is called nocturia

Nocturia

Nocturia , also called nycturia , is the need to get up in the night to urinate, thus interrupting sleep. Its occurrence is more frequent in pregnant women and in the elderly...

. Frequent urination is strongly associated with frequent incidences of urinary urgency

Urinary urgency

Urinary urgency is a sudden, compelling urge to urinate. It is often, though not necessarily, associated with urinary incontinence, polyuria, nocturia, and interstitial cystitis. It tends to increase with age...

.

Causes

Frequent urination is a classic sign of urinary tract infection

Urinary tract infection

A urinary tract infection is a bacterial infection that affects any part of the urinary tract. Symptoms include frequent feeling and/or need to urinate, pain during urination, and cloudy urine. The main causal agent is Escherichia coli...

, where inflammation reduces the bladder's capacity to hold urine. Other common causes are:

• Diabetes mellitus
  Diabetes mellitus
  Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced...
  
  , causing increased urine production (polyuria
  Polyuria
  Polyuria is a condition usually defined as excessive or abnormally large production or passage of urine . Frequent urination is sometimes included by definition, but is nonetheless usually an accompanying symptom...
  
  )
• Prostate
  Prostate
  The prostate is a compound tubuloalveolar exocrine gland of the male reproductive system in most mammals....
  
   problems, causing disturbance along the urinary tract
• Pregnancy
  Pregnancy
  Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
  
   potentially causing both

Other causes of polyuria

Polyuria

Polyuria is a condition usually defined as excessive or abnormally large production or passage of urine . Frequent urination is sometimes included by definition, but is nonetheless usually an accompanying symptom...

 may, less commonly, cause frequent urination.

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

• Interstitial cystitis
• Overactive bladder
  Overactive bladder
  Overactive bladder is a urological condition defined by a set of symptoms: urgency, with or without urge incontinence, usually with frequency and nocturia. Frequency is usually defined as urinating more than 8 times a day. The International Continence Society is responsible for this definition...
  
  
• Prostatitis
• Stroke and other neurological diseases

Less common causes include:

• Bladder cancer
• Bladder dysfunction
• Radiation therapy