Bacteriuria in non-catheterized elderly patients in the first eight days of hospital stay

One hundred and sixty-one non-catheterized consecutive acute geriatric admissions were screened for bacteriuria on the day following admission, both in the morning and in the afternoon and seven days later--morning and afternoon. The prevalence of bacteriuria was 29% on admission. A correlation between bacteriuria and leucocyturia was shown. The patients were admitted with a variety of medical illnesses but in no case was a diagnosis of urinary-tract infection made prior to admission. There was a significant relationship between incontinence and bacteriuria on admission; 12% of abacteriuric patients became bacteriuric between day 1 and day 7 following admission. Escherichia coli accounted for 51% of the isolates on admission to hospital. Bacteriuria was associated with increased mortality within 1 year following admission to hospital.