Urinary tract infection in primary care 

Background

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common reason for prescribing of antibiotics in Swedish primary care. The main reason for prescribing antibiotics in UTI is to shorten duration of symptoms, complications are rare. Antibiotic resistance is a global health problem and is maintained by an increasing consumption of antibiotics. To optimize empiric antibiotic prescriptions in UTI, Swedish national guidelines have been published.

Method

Antimicrobial resistance in bacteria in urine samples from patients attending primary care with suspect UTI will be studied as well as symptoms and the relation between recovery and bacterial resistance.

To identify trends in prescription of antibiotics to patients with UTI and to analyze the results in relation to current national guideline Sweden’s largest database regarding diagnose linked antibiotic prescribing data in primary care will be analyzed with focus on visits related to UTI.

To monitor adherence to existing treatment recommendations in male UTI a register-based study in different counties in Sweden will be performed. The purpose is also to evaluate the prevalence of complications and if they can be linked to prescribed antibiotic.

Patients attitudes to antibiotic treatment in UTI will be explored in an interview based study.

Relevance: The results will hopefully contribute to an increased knowledge about symptoms and cure, in relation to bacterial findings and resistance pattern among primary care patients with UTI. To optimize antibiotic prescription we need to evaluate adherence to guidelines and we also need to ensure that we treat our patients in the best way.