The economic burden of urinary tract infections in women visiting general practices in France: a cross-sectional survey

Abstract

BackgroundUrinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections. Despite this burden, there are few studies of the costs of UTIs. The objective of this study was to determine the costs of UTIs in women over 18 years of age who visit general practitioners in France.MethodsThe direct and indirect costs of clinical UTIs were estimated from societal, French National Health Insurance and patient perspectives. The study population was derived from a national cross-sectional survey entitled the Drug-Resistant Urinary Tract Infection (Druti). The Druti included every woman over 18 years of age who presented with symptoms of UTI and was conducted in France in 2012 and 2013 to estimate the annual incidence of UTIs due to antibiotic-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in women visiting general practitioners (GPs) for suspected UTIs.ResultsOf the 538 women included in Druti, 460 were followed over 8 weeks and included in the cost analysis. The mean age of the women was 46 years old. The median cost of care for one episode of a suspected UTI was €38, and the mean cost was €70. The annual societal cost was €58 million, and €29 million of this was reimbursed by the French National Health Insurance system. In 25 % of the cases, the suspected UTIs were associated with negative urine cultures. The societal cost of these suspected UTIs with negative urine cultures was €13.5 million. No significant difference was found between the costs of the UTIs due to antibiotic-resistant E. coli and those due to wild E. coli (p = 0.63).ConclusionIn the current context in which the care costs are continually increasing, the results of this study suggests that it is possible to decrease the cost of UTIs by reducing the costs of suspected UTIs and unnecessary treatments, as well as limiting the use of non-recommended tests.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1620-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Intravesical sodium hyaluronate reduces severity, frequency and improves quality of life in recurrent UTI

“…The average recurrence rate has been estimated to be 2.6 infections per year [4]. Apart from the morbidity and effect on an individual's quality of life (QoL), the economic burden of UTI is considerable ($2.8 billion due to UTI hospitalisations in the USA in 2011 and €58 million societal costs in France in 2012-2013) [6,7]. Besides the fiscal impact, the frequent use of antimicrobials in these patients contributes to the worrisome trend of increasing antimicrobial resistance as well as the morbidity caused by adverse drug effects.…”

French Adaptation of the Activity Impairment Assessment Score in Order to Assess the Activity Impairment of Women Presenting with Acute Uncomplicated Cystitis in Primary Care: Translation and Psychometric Validation.

“…Urinary tract infections (UTI) are a very common condition seen by general practitioners and one of the most frequent bacterial infections [1]. Among UTI, Acute Uncomplicated Cystitits (AUC) are seen as mild infections but their impact can be quite significant on patient quality of life (QoL) [2].…”

Pathogenicity of urinary tract infectionEscherichia coliinCaenorhabditis elegans

“…Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are very common [1], and the resulting direct medical cost is substantial [2]. Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) is one of the major etiologies of UTIs.…”