Urinary tract infection in the elderly: a clinical study

Urinary tract infection is one of the most common causes of infection in the elderly living in the community as well as in institutions. While the preventive measures involve the enhancement of immunological status, perineal hygiene and avoiding unnecessary instrumentation, the clinical manifestation predicting the outcome, the main objective of the study, is also no less important after the infection takes place. Cross-sectional study was designed recruiting 107 cases from the general medical wards to compare various relevant clinical parameters in terms of the final outcome. The result showed that the aged group 75 years old or more, the catheter-related cases, prior bedbound status, confusion, anorexia with nasogastric tube feeding, respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation, septic shock, the presence of candida in urine, the extreme temperature either less than 37 degrees C or more than 40 degrees C and finally the mistake in interpreting the gram stain of the urine were found more common in the dead group with statistical significance. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed anorexia with nasogastric tube feeding, prior bedbound status, the need for mechanical ventilation, septic shock and extreme body temperature response independently predicted the outcome of the elderly with urinary tract infection.