Descriptive Epidemiology and Outcomes of Hospitalizations With Complicated Urinary Tract Infections in the United States, 2018

Background. Hospitalizations with complicated urinary tract infection (cUTI) in the United States have increased. Though most often studied as a subset of cUTI, catheter-associated UTI (CAUTI) afflicts a different population of patients and carries outcomes distinct from non-CA cUTI (nCAcUTI). We examined the epidemiology and outcomes of hospitalizations in these groups. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional multicenter study within the 2018 National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database, a 20% stratified sample of discharges from US community hospitals, to explore characteristics and outcomes of patients discharged with a UTI diagnosis. We divided cUTI into mutually exclusive categories of nCAcUTI and CAUTI. We applied survey methods to develop national estimates. Results. Among 2 837 385 discharges with a UTI code, 500 400 (17.6%, 19.8% principal diagnosis [PD]) were nCAcUTI and 126 120 (4.4%, 63.8% PD) were CAUTI. Though similar in age (CAUTI, 70.1 years; and nCAcUTI, 69.7 years), patients with nCAcUTI had lower comorbidity (mean Charlson, 4.3) than those with CAUTI (mean Charlson, 4.6). Median (interquartile range [IQR]) length of stay (LOS) was 5 (3-8) days in nCAcUTI and 5 (3-9) days in CAUTI. Overall median (IQR) hospital costs were similar in nCAcUTI ($9713 [$5923-$17423]) and CAUTI ($9711 [$5969-$17420]). Though low in both groups, hospital mortality was lower in nCAcUTI (2.8%) than in CAUTI (3.4%). Routine discharges home were higher in nCAcUTI (41.5%) than CAUTI (22.1%). Conclusions. There are >626 000 hospital admissions with a cUTI, comprising similar to 1.8% of all annual admissions in the United States; 4/5 are nCAcUTI. Because CAUTI is frequently the reason for admission, preventive efforts are needed beyond the acute care setting.

Automated summary

This study examined the epidemiology and outcomes of two groups of UTI patients in the United States. The results showed that although the two groups had similar age distribution, catheter-associated UTI patients had higher comorbidity and hospital mortality, while non-catheter-associated UTI patients had higher rate of routine discharges home.