Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)

Brusch (2021) explained that UTIs are infections in an individual’s urinary system, including the ureters, urethra, kidney, and bladder. It is caused by several risk factors, including orchitis, cystitis, urinary catheter, prostatitis, and pyelonephritis. According to Czajkowski et al. (2021), urinary tract infection is more common in women than men due to the gender’s lower urinary tract autonomy and closeness to the reproductive organs. Based on their study, Czajkowski et al. (2021) illustrated that the female gender has a short urethra, reducing bacterial ingress distance. According to Medina and Castillo-Pino (2019), UTIs can be recurrent due to depression and anxiety symptoms. Nonetheless, the condition can be treated through several strategies, including prescribing antibiotic regimens and antimicrobial or non-antimicrobial treatment strategies. This research presents the author’s encounter with a recurrent UTI patient who presented himself in the clinic for an initial visit and later follow-up. Besides, the research uses the current literature to provide approaches to treating the condition and the standardized procedures for UTI diagnosis. Consequently, the paper further compares the treatment plan offered to the patient and the existing treatment plans in the literature.    

Review of topic and rationale for selection of topic

According to Czajkowski et al. (2021), the condition is common among women of all ages; however, its prevalence increases with age. The existing literature sufficiently examines the disease’s associated risk factors such as sexual activity, diabetes, history of UTIs, estrogen deficiency, urinary incontinence, and urinary retention (Storme et al., 2019; Vasavada et al., 2021). However, little research has examined other UTI risk factors associated with old age. Therefore, there is a knowledge gap on whether other predisposing and precipitating factors are related to urinary tract infections among elderly women.