Use of Urine Testing in Outpatients Treated for Urinary Tract Infection

Submitted by UCSF Urology on August 6, 2013 at 1:36 pm
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In a study of over 40,000 episodes of urinary tract infection (UTI) in children, UCSF Urology Investigator, Hillary L. Copp, MD, MS and colleagues from the Urologic Diseases in America (UDA) Project found urine test use in ambulatory, antibiotic-teated pediatric patients is inconsistent and often not obtained at all.  The implications of empirical antibiotic prescription for pediatric UTI without confirmatory urine testing begs further research.

This ambitious research utilized information from the large claims database, Innovus i3.  The query evaluated urine testing trends by a temporally associated antibiotic prescription.

The UDA project is sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health.  The project's goal is to increase general understanding of the burden of urologic diseases in both human and financial terms.  This study has been published in PEDIATRICS, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.  Click here for the article.  

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