Urinary Tract Infections and Estrogen Use in Older Women
- 1 August 1992
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
- Vol. 40 (8), 817-820
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.1992.tb01855.x
Abstract
Objective To examine the relationship between exogenous estrogen use and risk of clinically diagnosed urinary tract infection (UTI) in older women. Design A case‐control study. Setting Two hundred seventy‐six general practices. Patients Cases (n = 3,616) were women, age 50–69 years, with a first recorded UTI in the calendar years 1989 or 1990. Controls (n = 19,162) were matched for age and practice. Main Outcome Measure Clinical diagnosis of UTI. Results Women using estrogens for ≥1 year had an increased risk of being diagnosed with a UTI compared to non‐users, crude odds ratio (OR) 1.9 (95% CI 1.5–2.2). All of this excess risk was observed in women with intact uteri, OR 2.1 (CI 1.7–2.7). Hysterectomized women had no increased risk, OR 1.1 (CI 0.8–1.5). Controlling for diabetes, neurologic deficit, atrophic vaginitis, incontinence, and age did not affect the observed associations. Conclusion Estrogen use is associated with an increased risk of UTI in older women with intact uteri but not in hysterectomized women. This observed differential effect on women with or without uteri may be explained by prescribing biases between these two groups of women, but we lack any evidence to support this conclusion over several alternative possibilities.Keywords
This publication has 22 references indexed in Scilit:
- Estrogens and InfectionClinical Infectious Diseases, 1991
- Validation of information recorded on general practitioner based computerised data resource in the United Kingdom.BMJ, 1991
- Prevention of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections in Postmenopausal WomenNephron, 1988
- Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections in Female Patients: An Overview of Management and TreatmentClinical Infectious Diseases, 1987
- Biologic Effects of Transdermal EstradiolNew England Journal of Medicine, 1986
- In Vitro Attachment of Escherichia coli to Human Uroepithelial Cells: Variation in Receptivity During the Menstrual Cycle and PregnancyThe Journal of Infectious Diseases, 1983
- Dose-related changes in vaginal cytology after topical conjugated equine oestrogens.BMJ, 1982
- An Evaluation of Midstream Urine Cultures in the Diagnosis of Urinary Tract Infections in FemalesUrologia Internationalis, 1970
- Epidemiology of urinary tract diseases in general practiceBMJ, 1969
- Acute Infections of the Urinary Tract and the Urethral Syndrome in General PracticeBMJ, 1965