Cumulative prevalence of urinary characteristics in very old people.

We studied in 1982 six urinary characteristics in very old inhabitants of Tampere, Finland, born in 1892 or earlier (N = 167). The majority (N = 132) of the subjects had also been studied in 1977 and 1978. The abnormalities were quite transient during the 5-year period. The cumulative percentage of those who had urinary infection was high in respect of bacterial culture and pyuria. Positive bacterial culture (> or = 10(5)/ml) could be detected in over half of the cohort, and pyuria (> 5/HPF) in 76%. Although persistence of albuminuria and haematuria was individually relatively rare in all three surveys, their cumulative percentages were 36% and 34%, respectively, during the 5-year period. Use of indwelling catheter was significantly more frequently connected with bacteriuria and haematuria than with albuminuria or pyuria.