Obese patients at greater risk for urinary tract infections

104th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association

Morbidly obese patients had a 41% increased risk for urinary tract infection, according to data presented at the 104th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association.

The association between obesity and urinary tract infection is not well-characterized and the question of whether increasing BMI affects risk for infection has never been addressed, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The study was conducted to evaluate the insurance claims of 95,962 adults (57% male) from 2002 to 2006 and identify patients diagnosed with urinary tract infection.

Increasing BMI was associated with greater odds of diagnosis of urinary tract infection: 17.9% of morbidly obese patients (BMI ≥50) had been diagnosed with a urinary tract infection during the five-year study period compared with 12% of patients with BMI <30.

“Elevated BMI, particularly among those with severe obesity, is associated with an increased risk for urinary tract infection,” the researchers wrote in the meeting abstract.

“These results may serve to guide [those] who treat obese patients and may also assist clinicians who counsel on the benefits of weight loss,” they wrote.

For more information:

Semins MJ. #395. Presented at: the 104th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association; April 25-30, 2009; Chicago.