Equal symptomatic outcome after antibacterial treatment of acute lower urinary tract infection and the acute urethral syndrome in adult women

Abstract

Objective: To compare symptomatic outcome after antibacterial treatment in patients with acute lower urinary tract infection and the acute urethral syndrome.

Design: A multipractice study; patients registering symptoms prospectively for 3 days by means of a diary.

Setting: General practices in western Norway.

Subjects: 153 adult women with acute lower urinary tract symptoms.

Main outcome measure: Patient's prospective registration of symptom distribution and duration after starting antibacterial treatment.

Results: Fifty-one patients with acute lower urinary tract infection and 58 patients with the acute urethral syndrome were included. There were no differences in age, history of urinary tract infection, actual symptoms, or symptom duration between the groups. Symptom duration was nearly identical in the two groups among those who became asymptomatic during the 3 days of registration, ranging from 1.2 days for urgency to 1.6 days for dysuria. Almost half of the patients in each group still had some symptom left after 3 days.

Conclusions: Symptomatic outcome was equal after antibacterial treatment whether the patient was classified as having acute cystitis or the acute urethral syndrome. Consequently, the general practitioner may rely on symptoms alone when starting antibacterial treatment in adult women with suspected cystitis.