Prevalence of hospital-acquired urinary tract infections in urology departments

Objectives: The aim of our study was to register the prevalence of nosocomial urinary tract infections (NAUTIs) in urology sections in Europe and Asia. Methods: A total of 6033 hospitalised patients in 194 different urology departments were screened in two Internet-based studies. Detailed reports on 727 patients with NAUTI were provided. Results: The prevalence of NAUTI was 10% in the Pan European Prevalence (PEP) study, 14% in the Pan EuroAsian Prevalence (PEAP) study, and 11% in the combined analysis. The largest group was asymptomatic bacteriuria (29%) followed by cystitis (26%), pyelonephritis (21%), and urosepsis (12%). There were significant differences between regions and types of hospitals. Conclusions: NAUTI is a large problem for urologic patients and causes huge extra costs for hospitals. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of European Association of Urology.