[Urogenital infections in the elderly]

The increasing incidence of asymptomatic bacteriuria and symptomatic urinary tract infections in the elderly requires a detailed consideration of this problem including age-specific medical and social risk factors. The increasing need for care, age- and gender-related complicating factors such as subvesical obstruction, adnexal infections, and incontinence, and the need for catheterization are predominant. Specific age-related diseases such as diabetes mellitus, pharmacodynamic alterations of antimicrobial substances, and changes in the vaginal colonization make increased demands on therapeutic strategies. Urologic implications resulting from this set of difficulties have not yet been investigated sufficiently and need further evidence-based work-up.