We identified 1425 publications of which 317 met inclusion criteria. UTI was reported as a primary outcome in 254 (80.13%) of included articles, however only 139 (43.85%) of included studies provided an explicit definition of UTI (Table 1). We encountered eleven different definitions of UTI. Positive urine culture, urinalysis, fever and clinical symptoms defined a UTI in 52 (37.41%) of 139 studies. Despite using these four criteria, most of these studies did not specifically describe using the NIDRR definition of UTI. RCTs were more likely to define a UTI than other study types (X 2 ¼ 12.77, n¼39, p < 0.05). Sixtyfour (20.32%) of the included articles were published in urology journals versus non-urology journals. Articles published in urology journals did not have an increased likelihood that UTI would be defined (X 2 ¼ 0.213, p ¼ 0.65). Articles published after the 1992 NIDDR consensus conference were no more likely to report a definition of UTI (X 2 ¼ 1.39, p ¼ 0.24).CONCLUSIONS: Definitions for UTI are variable and used inconsistently in studies of SCI patients, limiting the reliability of its diagnosis in this population. Despite various proposed definitions over time, there has not been a consistently established definition of UTI in SCI literature.
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