Management of cystitis: the patient's viewpoint

Two years after a microbiological study of the urethral syndrome 32 sufferers and 26 controls were asked what they felt caused 'cystitis' symptoms, what they did to prevent recurrences and how they managed acute episodes. Doctors may feel that they have discharged their clinical responsibility by excluding pathogens but the patient is often confused and frustrated by the mismatch between her own ideas on causation and the paradoxical ideas of her doctor. The findings indicated that both patient groups think in a divergent and largely non-biomedical manner about their symptoms. Medical advisers were unlikely to explore lay ideas on cystitis or reinforce self-help measures. Clinicians would be well advised to take lay ideas into account and, where appropriate, to capitalize on them in negotiating management.