Research study finds that even with multiple urinary symptoms, less than 50% of women are diagnosed with urinary tract infection (UTI).

​The results of this study suggest that doctors may not be able to make an accurate diagnosis relying on urinary symptoms such as frequent urination, urinary burning sensations, nocturia or hematuria only, which may lead to over treatment and patients taking antibiotics unnecessarily.

A recent local survey found that among the many women who have urinary symptoms, only less than 50% are diagnosed with urinary tract infection. More than 30% of patients with the same urinary symptoms test negative for UTI and the other 20% have a variety of mixed bacterial infections.

Led by the National Healthcare Group (NHG) and the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), the study surveyed 564 female patients with urinary symptoms. Sixty percent of the patients were between the ages of 21 and 64-years old.

Among the patients involved in the study, more than 70% had symptoms of frequent urination, urgency, and urinary burning. About 60% felt that their urine was not clean and more than 50% of patients had nocturia. Half of the patients presented with two to four symptoms at the same time.

Dr Chen Yechuan said that doctors generally use antibiotics to treat urinary tract infections. However, the urinary symptoms presented by patients do not accurately reflect the actual bacterial and further diagnosis must be combined with urine microscopy.

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