The Role of Dutch Guidelines in the Diagnostic Outcomes and Treatment Decisions of Hospitalised Older Adults with a Suspected Urinary Tract Infection: a Retrospective Cohort Study

To evaluate the applicability of the urinary tract infection (UTI) diagnostic and treatment guidelines of the Dutch Association of Urology (NVU) and Dutch Association of Elderly Care Physicians (Verenso) in hospitalised older adults with suspected UTI in terms of diagnostic outcomes and treatment decisions. Adherence to either the NVU or the Verenso guidelines suggested that fewer antibiotics would have been prescribed in our study population. However, implementing the Verenso guideline in hospitals would demand a shift from diagnostic testing to focusing on urinary tract-related symptoms. Compliance with the NVU or the Verenso guidelines may have resulted in fewer antibiotic prescriptions in the study population. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are highly prevalent and difficult to diagnose in older adults. We aimed to evaluate the applicability of Dutch Association of Urology (NVU) and Dutch Association of Elderly Care Physicians (Verenso) guidelines in terms of diagnostic outcomes and treatment decisions in hospitalised older adults with suspected UTIs. A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 225 geriatric patients with a urine culture taken in 2019, to determine conformity of the studied population to NVU and Verenso. Of 225 patients with suspected UTI (mean age 86 years; 56.4