Table 5. Prevalence of Subjective Night Sweats (Elicited) among Patients with Medical Conditions
ConditionPrevalence in Specific Samples
Autoimmune diseases
    Polymorphic reticulosis7/34 (21%)94
Endocrine diseases
    Diabetes mellitus14/22 (64%) with nocturnal hypoglycemia95
    Obesity, severe in residential treatment of obesity20/152 (13%) men; 47/234 (20%) women96
Infectious diseases
    Adenovirus, immunocompromised4/15 (27%)97
    Endocarditis, Cardiobacterium hominis14/61 (24%)98
    HIV, acute5/58 (9%) of p24 Ag+/HIV−66
7/20 (35%)99
59/328 (18%)67
88/151 (58%)100
    HIV, chronic18/22 (82%)68
39/328 (12%)67
19/49 (31%)101
126/899 (14%)73
7/34 (21%)91
40/168 (24%)102
26/100 (26%)103
62/109 (57%)104
144/205 (70%) (average once/week)105
18/176 (10%) with no AIDS-defining illnesses50
    HIV+, IV drug users33/124 (27%)69
    HIV+, generalized lymphadenopathy12/38 (32%)71
    HIV+, Mycobacterium avium complex36/91 (40%)106
27/31 (87%)74
21/25 (84%)75
18/24 (75%)76
67/187 (36%)77
    HIV+, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia46/99 (46%)107
    HIV+, pneumonia, bacterial22/94 (23%)107
    HIV+, tuberculosis66/85 (78%)*108
306/899 (34%)73
With pleural effusion 54/65 (83%)109
19/36 (53%)107
24/48 (50%)72
    Pneumonia, bacterial104/329 (32%)110
    Tuberculosis22/40 (55%)111
Young adults 179/419 (43%), older adults 15/45 (33%)112
Young adults 34/73 (46%), older adults 17/72 (24%)113
Young adults 48/88 (55%), older adults 9/50 (18%)114
Young adults 14/29 (48%)115
Older adults 2/35 (6%)115
12/17 (71%)110
24/98 (25%) TB patients presenting with lymphadenopathy88
148/313 (48%) of TB outpatients116
11/31 (35%) of TB outpatients72
    Tuberculosis, Beijing typeYoung adults 14/29 (48%)
Older adults 2/35 (6%)115
    Tuberculosis
        Beijing308/880 (35%)
        Non-Beijing type378/880 (43%)117
        Beijing2/21 (10%)
        Non-Beijing type7/20 (35%)118
    Tuberculosis, extrapulmonary99/209 (48%) of patients with abdominal TB119
Medications28/54 (54%) with extrapulmonary TB116
    Oblimersen sodium7/40 (18%)120
    Tacatuzumab2/12 (17%)121
Miscellaneous diseases
    Inflammatory pseudotumor2/25 (8%)122
Neoplastic and hematologic diseases
    Acute lymphocytic leukemia8/10 (80%)123
    Acute myelocytic leukemia8/22 (36%)123
    Lymphoma14/85 (17%) of those presenting with lymphadenopathy88
7/50 (14%) with generalized lymphadenopathy71
3/10 (30%) lymphoma primary in liver124
4/14 (29%) with EBV Hodgkin disease87
5/12 (42%) with pancreatic lymphoma87
    Metastatic, mixed5/17 (29%) of those presenting with lymphadenopathy88
    Mesothelioma, peritoneal3/17 (18%)125
    Mixed, terminal12/77 (16%) admission to hospice
19/77 (25%) just before death126
    Myelofibrosis255/456 (56%)127
8/22 (36%)128
12/56 (21%)129
    Pancreatic cancer1/30 (3%)130
    Polycythemia vera198/405 (49%)127
    Prostate cancer, inflammatory7/12 (58%)90
    Thrombocythemia, essential125/304 (41%)127
Pulmonary diseases
    Eosinophilic pneumonia3/65 (5%)131
Sleep disorders
    Obstructive sleep apnea65/406 (16%)132
Toxic and metabolic diseases
    Silicone breast implants22/50 (44%)133
  • * Compilation of several case series.

  • EBV, Epstein-Barr virus; IV, intravenous; TB, tuberculosis.