Urinary tract infections (UTIs) cause a variety of symptoms, including fever and pain, and can lead to a decreased quality of life for those affected. Various factors have been associated with an increased risk of UTIs, but these can differ between countries and regions. Identifying the specific risk factors for UTIs in each context is important, as it allows clinicians to quickly determine which patients should be included in screening programs.
In a study published in the International Journal of Microbiology, researchers in Uganda aimed to establish the prevalence, characteristics, and risk factors for UTIs in Bushenyi District in western Uganda, for which no detailed data existed.
The researchers enrolled 267 hospital patients with suspected UTIs and analyzed their urine samples. They found that 32.2% of the tested patients had a UTI, and that these were more common in women (37.5%) than men (22%). Escherichia coli was the most common causative bacterial species (41.9%).
The study identified several factors associated with UTIs, namely hospitalization, being female, being married, age ≤19 years, having an indwelling urinary catheter, diabetes mellitus, and genitourinary tract abnormalities. The researchers recommended that patients fulfilling these criteria would be good candidates for screening programs designed to detect UTIs and enable early treatment and prevention.
Read the full article here >>
This blog post is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY). Illustration by David Jury.