RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Prevention of recurrent urinary tract infections in women
JF Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin
JO Drug Ther Bull
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 69
OP 74
DO 10.1136/dtb.2013.6.0187
VO 51
IS 6
YR 2013
UL http://dtb.bmj.com/content/51/6/69.abstract
AB Around 40–50% of women experience at least one urinary tract infection (UTI) during their lifetime and 20–30% of these have a recurrence within 3–4 months of the initial infection.1 Recurrent UTI (usually defined as three episodes in the last 12 months or two episodes in the last 6 months) can have a considerable impact on a woman's quality of life. Each episode of acute UTI in young women is typically associated with about 6 days of symptoms, 2.4 days of restricted activities and 0.4 days of bed rest.1 Antibacterial prophylaxis is effective in preventing recurrent episodes, but at the expense of unwanted effects and a risk of promoting bacterial resistance. Here we assess the efficacy of different antibacterial regimens and non-antibacterial alternatives (cranberry, probiotics, oestrogens, immunostimulation, hyaluronic acid and chondroitin, acupuncture and herbs) in the prevention of recurrent uncomplicated UTIs in women.