Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common and diverse. Even when not severe UTIs regularly lead to hospitalization, but their hospital burden remains unknown. This study aimed to estimate the national incidence of hospitalized UTIs in France.
An historic 5-year cohort of adult patients hospitalized with UTIs in France was performed on the medico-administrative databases using an ICD-10 code algorithm built by a multidisciplinary team. The performance parameters were estimated blindly, by reviewing 1,122 cases, medical reports as the gold standard, giving a global predictive positive value of 70.4% [CI 66.6-74.1]. The national incidence of UTIs was then estimated.
2,083,973 patients with UTIs were hospitalized over the period, giving an adjusted incidence rate ∼900 cases/100,000 inhabitants, stable over the period, higher in female and increasing with age; 1.2% was device-associated UTIs. Unspecific acute cystitis represented almost 2/3 of cases (63.5%); followed by pyelonephritis (23.6%) and prostatitis (12.4%). More than 3/4 of patients had at least one comorbid condition (76.8%).
This national cohort study is the first to date to estimate the incidence of UTI-related hospitalizations in France. UTIs represent a substantial burden of care. Further analysis will provide data for more informed goal-of-care discussion targeting each type of UTI, their management and outcomes.

Copyright © 2021 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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