EPIDEMIOLOGIC FEATURES OF COMPLICATED UTI IN A DISTRICT HOSPITAL OF KUWAIT

Records from patients admitted to the surgical or medical department o r examined in the respective outpatient departments in a Kuwaiti distr ict hospital were reviewed retrospectively to discern the demographic characteristics of patients with complicated urinary tract infections (UTI), underlying conditions, pathogens and their antimicrobial suscep tibility patterns. Kuwaiti nationals constituted the largest group, fo llowed by Egyptians, which in the population of 225 patients studied c omprised 41% and 27%, respectively; 65 of these 225 patients (29%) had urinary stones; 33 of the 92 Kuwaiti patients (36%) had diabetes mell itus; 38 of the 60 Egyptian patients (63%) had urinary stones and 18 h ad bilharziasis (30%). Pathogens were isolated 353 times from 225 pati ents. Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and several other organisms in those patients with bilharziasis, urina ry stones, and especially diabetes mellitus, displayed lower susceptib ility frequencies to antimicrobials in comparison with other surgical and medical UTI isolates. Surgical and medical UTI organisms showed an overall higher antimicrobial resistance frequency than did UTI organi sms from the maternity department or regional clinics. More than half of the population of Kuwait consists of expatriates from different cou ntries. Such a population structure can exhibit peculiarities when hea lth is considered. All this should be taken into consideration while d ealing with disease management.