Urinary tract infections in general practice 2006-2017

What we do

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common condition that is characterized by increased urgency to void urine and painful urination. Most cases are caused by bacteria from the patient’s own gastrointestinal flora. UTI limited to the lower urinary tract in otherwise healthy non-pregnant women is termed uncomplicated UTI, and the infection is expected to resolve spontaneously in the span of a week. When children, men or women with complicating factors are affected the condition is termed complicated UTI. Pyelonephritis is an infection of the upper urinary tract and usually arises as a complication of a lower UTI. This is a more severe infection and should always be treated with antibiotics. General practitioners (GPs) treat the vast majority of urinary tract infections.

The project will provide new knowledge about health care seeking behavior and antibiotic use for UTIs in primary care.

This is a registry-based study of all patient consultations GPs and out-of-hours (OOH) services in Norway in the period 2006-2017. Data from the electronic reimbursement claims database are linked with data from the Norwegian prescription database.

The project team consists of Lars Emil Aga Haugom (research fellow), Knut-Arne Wensaas and Sabine Ruths (supervisors) Knut Erik Emberland and Sverre Litleskare.

Updated: 13.12.2018