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Urinary Tract Infections in the Elderly

  • Inflammatory/Infectious Bladder Disorders (MS Mourad, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Urinary tract infection is a common diagnosis made in both primary and secondary care, with a lifetime prevalence of 50 % in women. Although superficially simple to diagnose and manage, the diagnosis is often erroneous in older people. The majority of urinary tract infections are caused by enteric bacteria, specifically Escherichia coli and Enterobacteriaceae. In older people without symptoms directly attributable to the urinary tract, urinary tract infection (UTI) is unlikely yet often diagnosed. In the presence of urinary symptoms, urine dipstick is not a useful investigation and urine should be sent for culture to guide antibiotic treatment. This review summarises the current investigation and management of urinary tract infections in older men and women.

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Conflict of Interest

William Gibson declares a fee paid for speaking at a symposium for Pfizer Canada. Adrian Wagg declares grants and personal fees from Astellas Pharma, Pfizer and SCA.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, 1-116 Clinical Sciences Building, 11350 – 87 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2P4, Canada

    William Gibson & Adrian Wagg

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  1. William Gibson
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  2. Adrian Wagg
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Correspondence to Adrian Wagg.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Inflammatory/Infectious Bladder Disorders

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Gibson, W., Wagg, A. Urinary Tract Infections in the Elderly. Curr Bladder Dysfunct Rep 10, 222–226 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11884-015-0304-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11884-015-0304-9

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