[Urinary tract infections: Economical impact of water intake]

This study aims to estimate the impact of preventing urinary tract infections (UTI), using a strategy of increased water intake, from the payer's perspective in the French health care system.

A Markov model enables a comparison of health care costs and outcomes for a virtual cohort of subjects with different levels of daily water intake. The analysis of the budgetary impact was based on a period of 5years. The analysis was based on a 25-year follow-up period to assess the effects of adequate water supply on long-term complications.

The authors estimate annual primary incidence of UTI and annual risk of recurrence at 5.3% and 30%, respectively. Risk reduction associated with greater water intake reached 45% and 33% for the general and recurrent populations, respectively. The average total health care cost of a single UTI episode is €1074; for a population of 65 millions, UTI management represents a cost of €3.700 millions for payers. With adequate water intake, the model indicates a potential cost savings of €2.288 millions annually, by preventing 27 million UTI episodes. At the individual level, the potential cost savings is approximately €2915.

Preventing urinary tract infections using a strategy of adequate water intake could lead to significant cost savings for a public health care system. Further studies are needed to assess the effectiveness of such an approach.