Microbiology testing and antibiotic treatment for urinary tract infections in general practice: a nationwide observational study.
PURPOSE
Routine urine testing is recommended prior to antibiotic treatment for urinary tract infections (UTIs) among high-risk groups for complicated UTIs. This study aims to examine whether the proportion of UTI encounters where antibiotics are prescribed that have accompanying urine testing differs by patient groups.


METHODS
A retrospective analysis was conducted using records of general practice encounters for UTIs occurring between January 2013 and July 2018 in an Australian national database. We calculated the proportion of UTI encounters with antibiotics prescribed that had accompanying urine microbiology testing and the odds ratios for the likelihood of testing by patient groups using generalised estimating equations.


RESULTS
Of 132,688 UTI encounters with antibiotics prescribed, 95,800 (72.2%) were accompanied by urine testing. Among high-risk groups for complicated UTIs and expected to have a high likelihood of testing, we found pregnant women [82.6% vs. non-pregnant 72.3%, adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.82, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.55-2.12] and children aged 5-9 years (77.6% vs. 20-44 years 72.0%, aOR 1.33, 95% CI 1.22-1.45) had relatively high odds of testing. However, children aged < 5 years (68.7% vs. 20-44 years 72.0%, aOR 0.83, 95% CI 0.76-0.90), patients with recurrent UTIs (69.0% compared to first-onset UTIs 73.6%, aOR 0.81, 95% CI 0.79-0.83), and patients in residential aged care facilities (67.3% vs. not 72.3%, aOR 0.80, 95% CI 0.72-0.90) had relatively low odds of testing.


CONCLUSION
Our results suggest inconsistencies and potential underuse of urine testing when antibiotics were prescribed for high-risk groups in UTI management. Further antibiotic stewardship is needed to improve guideline-based antibiotic prescribing for UTIs.
['Peng|Zhuoxin|Z|', 'Hayen|Andrew|A|', 'Hall|John|J|', 'Liu|Bette|B|']
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents D001315:Australia D002648:Child D005260:Female D058006:General Practice D006801:Humans D011247:Pregnancy D012189:Retrospective Studies D014552:Urinary Tract Infections
Antibiotics Urinary tract infections General practice Urine microbiology testing Guideline adherence