Tackling the neglected disease in our midst: towards evidence-based treatment decisions for urinary tract infections at point-of-care.

Background

Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) are one of the most common bacterial infections globally. 90% of UTI patients are women, and risk of suffering from a UTI increases with age. Even acute uncomplicated UTIs can be painful and debilitating and UTIs can have severe long-term consequences, including sepsis. Despite this, no good diagnostic tools exist which are suitable for point-of-care, meaning over and under diagnosis is common. UTI treatments account for 10-20% of community antibiotic prescriptions but many of these antibiotics are given out unnecessarily, fueling the spread of antibiotic resistance. UTIs-related appointments are a considerable burden in primary care and re-consultations are common.

Aim

The aim of this project is to validate a novel point-of-care UTI test, designed to help clinicians make evidence-based decisions for UTI patients.

Method

The project involves three work packages. The ‘innovation’ work package will assess the performance of the UTI test clinically and collect user feedback. The ‘impact’ work package will evaluate the potential impact of the test on treatment decisions and the ‘implementation’ work package will explore potential pathways for the adoption of the test into routine care.

Expected Benefits

• An improvement of UTI diagnosis at point-of-care
• An improvement in antibiotic stewardship
• A reduction in UTI-related re-consultations in primary care and UTI-related admissions into secondary care