Prevalence of Hospital-Acquired Urinary Tract Infections in Urology Departments

ObjectivesThe aim of our study was to register the prevalence of nosocomial urinary tract infections (NAUTIs) in urology sections in Europe and Asia.MethodsA total of 6033 hospitalised patients in 194 different urology departments were screened in two Internet-based studies. Detailed reports on 727 patients with NAUTI were provided.ResultsThe prevalence of NAUTI was 10% in the Pan European Prevalence (PEP) study, 14% in the Pan EuroAsian Prevalence (PEAP) study, and 11% in the combined analysis. The largest group was asymptomatic bacteriuria (29%) followed by cystitis (26%), pyelonephritis (21%), and urosepsis (12%). There were significant differences between regions and types of hospitals.ConclusionsNAUTI is a large problem for urologic patients and causes huge extra costs for hospitals.