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Urinary Tract Infection in the Older Population: Not Always So Simple

Teaser: 

Michael Gordon, MD, MSc., FRCPC, 1 Nada Abdel-Malek, MPH, MD, CFPC (COE),2

1Emeritus Professor, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON. 2Department of Family and Community Medicine, Baycrest Health Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.

CLINICAL TOOLS

Abstract: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common in older adults, with prevalence increasing with each decade above sixty-five. UTIs in older adults can be multi-factorial in terms of etiology, risk factors, symptoms, and interventions. A history of heart failure and diabetes increases the risk of UTIs in older adults, and these patients should be closely monitored for symptoms of infection. An enlarged prostate and urinary retention can be an all too common scenario leading to UTIs in older men. UTIs can cause acute confusion and disorientation in older people and should be considered as a possible cause of such new onset symptoms. Physicians should be aware of the variety of presentations and implications of determining a UTI in older adults.
Key Words: urinary tract infections (UTIs), older adults, risk factors, symptoms, interventions confusion, disorientation, heart failure, diabetes, enlarged prostate, urinary retention.
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common among the North American population, with prevalence increasing in older adults. Those with a history of heart failure and diabetes are at increased risk.
With the introduction of antibiotics before WWII, and then during the ensuing decades, treatments for UTIs moved away from previously used home-grown remedies.
Physicians should be aware of the variety of presentations and implications of determining a UTI in older adults.
The first case study describes an 84-year-old man with acute onset confusion, disorientation, and urinary retention, who was admitted to the hospital and treated with antibiotics and a small dose of an antipsychotic.
UTIs can cause acute or sub-acute confusion and disorientation in older adults and should be considered as a possible cause of such symptoms.
An enlarged prostate and urinary retention is a recognized syndrome of UTIs in older men.
UTIs are a common cause of confusion and disorientation in older adults, and should be considered as a possible cause of these neurological symptoms.
A history of heart failure and diabetes increases the risk of UTIs in older adults, and these patients should be closely monitored for symptoms of infection.
An enlarged prostate and urinary retention can be the underlying cause of UTIs in older adults, and these patients should be evaluated for infection if this constellation of findings exist.
UTIs in older adults can be multi-factorial in terms of etiology, risk factors, symptoms, and interventions, and physicians should be aware of the variety of presentations and implications of determining a UTI in this population.
It is important to use broad-spectrum antibiotics in older adults with UTIs, especially if they are antibiotic-naive patients.
Older adults with UTIs are at risk of harm if they try to remove their catheter or IV; it is important to use soft restraints as needed to ensure patient safety.
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Related Terms: Gender & Health, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Urogenital Disorders, urinary tract infection, older adults, risk factors, symptoms, interventions, heart failure, diabetes, diabetic, urinary retention
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Management of Diabetic Foot Ulcers -- June 2002

Management of Diabetic Foot Ulcers -- June 2002

Teaser: 


Prevention is the Best Form of Care

Madhuri Reddy, MD, Dermatology Day Care (Wound Healing Clinic) Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Care Centre, Toronto, ON, Associate Editor, Geriatrics & Aging.

R. Gary Sibbald, BSc, MD, FRCPC (Med), FRCPC (Derm), MACP, DABD,
Associate Professor and Director of Continuing Education
Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.

Introduction
The most common reason for hospitalization of individuals with diabetes is a foot wound. Persons with diabetes are forty times more likely than are non-diabetics to have a non-traumatic amputation, and the most common precipitating events are infection in a non-healing ulcer and gangrene. Those who undergo a lower-extremity amputation have a 50% chance of amputation in the contralateral limb within five years.1

The systemic nature of diabetes requires a team approach, involving wound care specialists (e.g. physicians, nurses) and foot care specialists (e.g. chiropodists, podiatrists, occupational therapists, pedorthists). Prevention of ulcers is the best form of care for the diabetic foot. Teaching prevention should occur in the setting of comprehensive diabetic care.

Related Terms: Dermatology, Diabetes-Endocrine Disorders, diabetic, foot, management, neuropathy, ulcers, wounds