Frequency of micturition and urinary tract infection

Introital swabbing was done on each of 19 patients with a history of lower urinary tract infection. The swabs were collected during a 5-day period, with 2 swabs being collected each day. We found that 1) introital flora varied in nature and in number from hour to hour and from day to day, 2) repetitive qualitative swabbing was the most accurate method to determine the presence of pathogens in the introitus and 3) there was a relationship between the frequency of micturition and the presence of introital pathogens: a) normal controls became colonized with pathogens as frequency of voiding was increased and b) pathogen carriage was found more commonly in the patient group as compared to the controls and the patient group voided more frequently than the control group. The theoretical implications of this relationship are discussed.