Diagnostic approach to urinary tract infections in male general practice patients: a national surveillance study.

BACKGROUND: Diagnostic urinary tract infection (UTI) studies have primarily been performed among female patients.

AIM: To create a diagnostic algorithm for male general practice patients suspected of UTI.

DESIGN AND SETTING: Surveillance study in the Dutch Sentinel General Practice Network.

METHOD: Clinical information and dipstick results were collected from 603 patients. Algorithm-predicted care was compared with care as usual in terms of sensitivity (antibiotic recommended when UTI was confirmed) and specificity (no antibiotic recommended when no UTI was observed).

RESULTS: Complete information was available from 490/603 (81%) males, of whom 66% (321/490) had a UTI. A diagnostic algorithm recommending antimicrobial prescription in the case of a positive nitrite test or a positive leukocyte esterase test in males aged ≥60 years, had a positive predictive value (PPV) of 83% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 78 to 87) and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 60% (95% CI = 52 to 66), respectively (area under the ROC curve: 0.78, 95% CI = 0.74 to 0.82). When both dipstick results were positive in males aged ≥60 years, PPV increased to 90% (95% CI = 83 to 94), whereas NPV was highest in males <60 years with negative dipstick results (71%, 95% CI = 59 to 81). Sensitivity and specificity of predicted UTI care and usual care did not differ (75% versus 79%, P = 0.30, and 70% versus 63%, P = 0.17, respectively).

CONCLUSION: UTI care provided to Dutch male GP patients is as accurate as predicted care from a diagnostic algorithm. The studied clinical information and dipstick tests are useful for ruling in UTI in males, but have limited value in ruling out this diagnosis.