Assessment of symptoms on patients with urinary tract infections and adherence to medications

Abstract

Although urinary tract infections (UTIs) are considered to be the most common bacterial infections worldwide, their assessment remains a big clinical challenge, because they are not reportable diseases in developed countries like United States and any other parts of the world including India. This situation is further complicated by the fact that accurate diagnosis depends on both the presence of symptoms and a positive urine culture, although in most outpatient settings this diagnosis is made without the benefit of culture. Our study aimed to appraise the impact of urinary tract infections symptoms on selected patients and comprehend their adherence to medications despite the challenges of antimicrobial susceptibility and resistance observed. One hundred and twenty patients with confirmed cases of urinary tract infections were recruited for the study. The mean age of females and males patients was found to be 59.86±2.37 and 52.27±3 years respectively. Pertinent descriptive and inferential statistics were performed. Spearman correlation test revealed a strong positive correlation between overall UTIs’ symptoms and their impact on patients at baseline (0.84) and at follow up (0.799) with p value =0.5. On the other hand the majority of patients were found to be adherent to the medications after discharge. The current study revealed that Urinary tract infections if left untreated can negatively impact the lives of patients suffering from it and hinder their adherence to medications. Consequently, accurate and early assessment of UTIs’ symptoms in clinics and hospitals becomes a necessity.