Most U.K. Patients With UTI Receive Antibiotics on Same Day

More than 85 percent of patients with urinary tract infection (UTI) receive antibiotics the same day and more than half are treated with trimethoprim, according to a study published online in EClinicalMedicine.

Mar Pujades-Rodriguez, Ph.D., from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, and colleagues examined current investigation, antibiotic treatment, and antibiotic represcription within 28 days for patients with a lower UTI diagnosis between 2011 and 2015 in 390 primary care practices. Overall, 494,675 UTIs were diagnosed in 300,354 patients.

The researchers found that 85.7 percent of UTIs had same-day antibiotic prescribing; 56.8 percent were treated with trimethoprim and 25.0 percent underwent urine sampling. The antibiotic represcription rate was 4.1 percent and increased over time for men (from 5.2 to 6.2 percent in 2011 and 2015, respectively). More than one-fifth (21.1 percent) of represcriptions were for the same antibiotic. There was variation in the percentage of adults with recurrent UTIs (1.0 and 2.6 percent in 18- to 64-year-old men and women aged ≥65 years, respectively). With age, calendar year, recent antibiotic prescribing, and treatment with antibiotics other than trimethoprim or nitrofurantoin, the risk for antibiotic represcription increased.

"There are opportunities to optimize antibiotic prescribing for UTIs that could potentially reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance," the authors write.

One author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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