Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33172396›Full record

Observational studyBMC family practice2020

Workload, diagnostic work-up and treatment of urinary tract infections in adults during out-of-hours primary care: a retrospective cohort study.

Michelle Spek, Jochen W L Cals, Guy J Oudhuis, Paul H M Savelkoul, Eefje G P M de Bont

Open access · goldAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in BMC family practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Michelle SpekDepartment of Family Medicine, CAPHRI Care and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University Medical Centre, P.O. Box 616, Maastricht, MD, 6200, The Netherlands.
Jochen W L CalsDepartment of Family Medicine, CAPHRI Care and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University Medical Centre, P.O. Box 616, Maastricht, MD, 6200, The Netherlands.
Guy J OudhuisDepartment of Medical Microbiology, CAPHRI Care and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Paul H M SavelkoulDepartment of Medical Microbiology, CAPHRI Care and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Eefje G P M de BontDepartment of Family Medicine, CAPHRI Care and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University Medical Centre, P.O. Box 616, Maastricht, MD, 6200, The Netherlands. eefje.debont@maastrichtuniversity.nl.ORCID 0000-0002-2700-4752
Maastricht University Medical Centre · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundUrinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common infections in primary care. Previous research showed that GPs find it challenging to diagnose UTIs and frequently divert from guidelines leading to unwarranted antibiotic prescriptions and inefficient use of diagnostics such as urinary cultures. We hypothesise that management of UTIs during out-of-hours care may be extra challenging due to a higher workload and logistical issues regarding diagnostic work-up and obtaining results. We therefore aimed to study the workload, diagnostic work-up and treatment of UTIs during out-of-hours primary care.

methodsWe performed a retrospective observational cohort study in which we analysed a full year (2018) of electronic patient records of two large Dutch GP out-of-hours centres. All adult patients with UTI symptoms were included in this study. Descriptive statistics and multivariate regression were used to analyse diagnostics and subsequent management.

resultsA total of 5657 patients were included (78.9% female, mean age of 54 years), with an average of eight patients per day that contact a GP out-of-hours centre because of UTI symptoms. Urinary dipsticks were used in 87.5% of all patients visiting the out-of-hours centres with UTI symptoms. Strikingly, urinary cultures were only requested in 10.3% of patients in which urinary culture was indicated. Seventy-four percent of the patients received antibiotics. Seventy-nine percent of the patients with a negative nitrite test still received antibiotics. Remarkably, patients at risk of complications because of a UTI, such as men, received fewer antibiotic prescriptions.

conclusionsIn total, 74% of the patients received antibiotics. 8 out of 10 patients still received an antibiotic prescription in case of a negative nitrite test, and 9 out of 10 patients with an indication did not receive a urine culture. In conclusion, we found that correctly diagnosing UTIs and prescribing antibiotics for UTIs is a challenge that needs major improvement, especially during out-of-hours GP care.

Indexed as

After-Hours CareUrinary Tract InfectionsAdultAnti-Bacterial AgentsFemaleHumansMalePrimary Health CareRetrospective StudiesWorkloadAnti-Bacterial AgentsAntibioticsCulturesGeneral practiceOut-of-hours primary careUrinary tract infections

Identifiers

PMID33172396
PMCPMC7653778
OpenAlexW3105839773

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.