scholarly journals Challenges in managing urinary tract infection and the potential of a point-of-care test guided care in primary care: an international qualitative study

BJGP Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. bjgpopen18X101630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Brookes-Howell ◽  
Emma Thomas-Jones ◽  
Janine Bates ◽  
Marie-Jet Bekkers ◽  
Curt Brugman ◽  
...  

BackgroundLittle is known about clinicians’ experiences of using a point-of-care test (POCT) to inform management of urinary tract infection (UTI) in general practice.AimTo explore experiences of using the Flexicult test to inform management of UTI and views on requirements for an optimal POCT to inform successful implementation.Design & settingTelephone interviews with 35 primary care clinicians and healthcare professionals in Wales, England, Spain, and the Netherlands, who had participated in a trial of the Flexicult POCT for UTI based on urine culture.MethodThematic analysis of semi-structured interviews.ResultsMost primary care clinicians interviewed agreed on the need for a POCT in UTI management, and that the Flexicult POCT delivered quicker results than laboratory results used in usual care, reassured patients, boosted their confidence in decision-making, and reminded them about antibiotic stewardship. However, clinicians also reported difficulties in interpreting results, limitations on when the Flexicult could be used, and concerns that testing all patients would strain care delivery and prolong patient discomfort when delaying decisions until a non-rapid POCT result was available. An optimal POCT would produce more rapid results, and be reliable and easy to use. Uptake into routine care would be enhanced by: clear guidance on which patients should be tested; training for interpreting ‘grey area’ results; reiterating that even ‘straightforward’ cases might be better managed with a test; clear messages about stopping unnecessary antibiotics versus completing a course; and better self-management strategies to accompany implementation of delayed, or non-prescription of, antibiotics.ConclusionPrimary care clinicians believe that POCT tests could play a useful role in the management of UTI and gave clear recommendations for successful implementation.

2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (669) ◽  
pp. e268-e278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher C Butler ◽  
Nick A Francis ◽  
Emma Thomas-Jones ◽  
Mirella Longo ◽  
Mandy Wootton ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe effectiveness of using point-of-care (POC) urine culture in primary care on appropriate antibiotic use is unknown.AimTo assess whether use of the Flexicult™ SSI-Urinary Kit, which quantifies bacterial growth and determines antibiotic susceptibility at the point of care, achieves antibiotic use that is more often concordant with laboratory culture results, when compared with standard care.Design and settingIndividually randomised trial of females with uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI) in primary care research networks (PCRNs) in England, the Netherlands, Spain, and Wales.MethodMultilevel regression compared outcomes between the two groups while controlling for clustering.ResultsIn total, 329 participants were randomised to POC testing (POCT) and 325 to standard care, and 324 and 319 analysed. Fewer females randomised to the POCT arm than those who received standard care were prescribed antibiotics at the initial consultation (267/324 [82.4%] versus 282/319 [88.4%], odds ratio [OR] 0.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.35 to 0.88). Clinicians indicated the POCT result changed their management for 190/301 (63.1%). Despite this, there was no statistically significant difference between study arms in antibiotic use that was concordant with laboratory culture results (primary outcome) at day 3 (39.3% POCT versus 44.1% standard care, OR 0.84, 95% CI = 0.58 to 1.20), and there was no evidence of any differences in recovery, patient enablement, UTI recurrences, re-consultation, antibiotic resistance, and hospitalisations at follow-up. POCT culture was not cost-effective.ConclusionPoint-of-care urine culture was not effective when used mainly to adjust immediate antibiotic prescriptions. Further research should evaluate use of the test to guide initiation of ‘delayed antibiotics’.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 793-805 ◽  
Author(s):  
A G Deakin ◽  
G R Jones ◽  
J W Spencer ◽  
E J Bongard ◽  
M Gal ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (51) ◽  
pp. 1-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alastair D Hay ◽  
Kate Birnie ◽  
John Busby ◽  
Brendan Delaney ◽  
Harriet Downing ◽  
...  

BackgroundIt is not clear which young children presenting acutely unwell to primary care should be investigated for urinary tract infection (UTI) and whether or not dipstick testing should be used to inform antibiotic treatment.ObjectivesTo develop algorithms to accurately identify pre-school children in whom urine should be obtained; assess whether or not dipstick urinalysis provides additional diagnostic information; and model algorithm cost-effectiveness.DesignMulticentre, prospective diagnostic cohort study.Setting and participantsChildren < 5 years old presenting to primary care with an acute illness and/or new urinary symptoms.MethodsOne hundred and seven clinical characteristics (index tests) were recorded from the child’s past medical history, symptoms, physical examination signs and urine dipstick test. Prior to dipstick results clinician opinion of UTI likelihood (‘clinical diagnosis’) and urine sampling and treatment intentions (‘clinical judgement’) were recorded. All index tests were measured blind to the reference standard, defined as a pure or predominant uropathogen cultured at ≥ 105colony-forming units (CFU)/ml in a single research laboratory. Urine was collected by clean catch (preferred) or nappy pad. Index tests were sequentially evaluated in two groups, stratified by urine collection method: parent-reported symptoms with clinician-reported signs, and urine dipstick results. Diagnostic accuracy was quantified using area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) with 95% confidence interval (CI) and bootstrap-validated AUROC, and compared with the ‘clinician diagnosis’ AUROC. Decision-analytic models were used to identify optimal urine sampling strategy compared with ‘clinical judgement’.ResultsA total of 7163 children were recruited, of whom 50% were female and 49% were < 2 years old. Culture results were available for 5017 (70%); 2740 children provided clean-catch samples, 94% of whom were ≥ 2 years old, with 2.2% meeting the UTI definition. Among these, ‘clinical diagnosis’ correctly identified 46.6% of positive cultures, with 94.7% specificity and an AUROC of 0.77 (95% CI 0.71 to 0.83). Four symptoms, three signs and three dipstick results were independently associated with UTI with an AUROC (95% CI; bootstrap-validated AUROC) of 0.89 (0.85 to 0.95; validated 0.88) for symptoms and signs, increasing to 0.93 (0.90 to 0.97; validated 0.90) with dipstick results. Nappy pad samples were provided from the other 2277 children, of whom 82% were < 2 years old and 1.3% met the UTI definition. ‘Clinical diagnosis’ correctly identified 13.3% positive cultures, with 98.5% specificity and an AUROC of 0.63 (95% CI 0.53 to 0.72). Four symptoms and two dipstick results were independently associated with UTI, with an AUROC of 0.81 (0.72 to 0.90; validated 0.78) for symptoms, increasing to 0.87 (0.80 to 0.94; validated 0.82) with the dipstick findings. A high specificity threshold for the clean-catch model was more accurate and less costly than, and as effective as, clinical judgement. The additional diagnostic utility of dipstick testing was offset by its costs. The cost-effectiveness of the nappy pad model was not clear-cut.ConclusionsClinicians should prioritise the use of clean-catch sampling as symptoms and signs can cost-effectively improve the identification of UTI in young children where clean catch is possible. Dipstick testing can improve targeting of antibiotic treatment, but at a higher cost than waiting for a laboratory result. Future research is needed to distinguish pathogens from contaminants, assess the impact of the clean-catch algorithm on patient outcomes, and the cost-effectiveness of presumptive versus dipstick versus laboratory-guided antibiotic treatment.FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (14) ◽  
pp. 5015
Author(s):  
Sherwin Reyes ◽  
Nga Le ◽  
Mary Denneth Fuentes ◽  
Jonathan Upegui ◽  
Emre Dikici ◽  
...  

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common infections, accounting for a substantial portion of outpatient hospital and clinic visits. Standard diagnosis of UTI by culture and sensitivity can take at least 48 h, and improper diagnosis can lead to an increase in antibiotic resistance following therapy. To address these shortcomings, rapid bioluminescence assays were developed and evaluated for the detection of UTI using intact, viable cells of Photobacterium mandapamensis USTCMS 1132 or previously lyophilized cells of Photobacterium leiognathi ATCC 33981™. Two platform technologies—tube bioluminescence extinction technology urine (TuBETUr) and cellphone-based UTI bioluminescence extinction technology (CUBET)—were developed and standardized using artificial urine to detect four commonly isolated UTI pathogens—namely, Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans. Besides detection, these assays could also provide information regarding pathogen concentration/level, helping guide treatment decisions. These technologies were able to detect microbes associated with UTI at less than 105 CFU/mL, which is usually the lower cut-off limit for a positive UTI diagnosis. Among the 29 positive UTI samples yielding 105–106 CFU/mL pathogen concentrations, a total of 29 urine specimens were correctly detected by TuBETUr as UTI-positive based on an 1119 s detection window. Similarly, the rapid CUBET method was able to discriminate UTIs from normal samples with high confidence (p ≤ 0.0001), using single-pot conditions and cell phone-based monitoring. These technologies could potentially address the need for point-of-care UTI detection while reducing the possibility of antibiotic resistance associated with misdiagnosed cases of urinary tract infections, especially in low-resource environments.


2017 ◽  
Vol 67 (665) ◽  
pp. e830-e841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher C Butler ◽  
Nick Francis ◽  
Emma Thomas-Jones ◽  
Carl Llor ◽  
Emily Bongard ◽  
...  

BackgroundRegional variations in the presentation of uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI) and pathogen sensitivity to antibiotics have been cited as reasons to justify differences in how the infections are managed, which includes the prescription of broad-spectrum antibiotics.AimTo describe presentation and management of UTI in primary care settings, and explore the association with patient recovery, taking microbiological findings and case mix into account.Design and settingProspective observational study of females with symptoms of uncomplicated UTI presenting to primary care networks in England, Wales, the Netherlands, and Spain.MethodClinicians recorded history, symptom severity, management, and requested mid-stream urine culture. Participants recorded, in a diary, symptom severity each day for 14 days. Time to recovery was compared between patient characteristics and between countries using two-level Cox proportional hazards models, with patients nested within practices.ResultsIn total, 797 females attending primary care networks in England (n = 246, 30.9% of cohort), Wales (n = 213, 26.7%), the Netherlands (n = 133, 16.7%), and Spain (n = 205, 25.7%) were included. In total, 259 (35.8%, 95% confidence interval 32.3 to 39.2) of 726 females for whom there was a result were urine culture positive for UTI. Pathogens and antibiotic sensitivities were similar. Empirical antibiotics were prescribed for 95.1% in England, 92.9% in Wales, 95.1% in Spain, and 59.4% in the Netherlands There were no meaningful differences at a country network level before and after controlling for severity, prior UTIs, and antibiotic prescribing.ConclusionVariation in presentation and management of uncomplicated UTI at a country primary care network level is clinically unwarranted and highlights a lack of consensus concerning optimal symptom control and antibiotic prescribing.


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