Introduction: Concerns of multidrug resistance may be influencing prescribing practices for urinary tract infections (UTI). We assessed 10-year trends in pharmacotherapy for UTI among a large sample of US adults treated in outpatient settings.
Results: The most commonly used medications were quinolones, urinary anti-infectives, and sulfonamides (Table 1). Quinolone use was more common among men compared to women, while urinary anti-infective use was more common among women. The mean duration of medication use was 8 days, with variation by medication type (range: 5-16 days). Over time, quinolone use decreased while the use of urinary anti-infectives, cephalosporins, and combination therapy including azoles increased (Figure 1).
Conclusions: Pharmacological treatment of UTI evolved over the 10-year study period, shifting from a primarily quinolone-based treatment paradigm to a more diverse pharmaceutical armamentarium that increasingly relied on cephalosporin agents. This evolution was likely driven by resistance patterns that particularly impact the effectiveness of quinolone agents. Nevertheless, regardless of the antibacterial agent used, treatment duration appeared to be longer than what guidelines typically suggest, representing an opportunity for practice improvement. Source of
Funding: Funded by the NIH via a contract to Social & Scientific Systems.
