Urinary tract infection and cystitis in women: a review article

A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an inflammatory reaction to fight the bacterial infection attacking the urothelium. It is a frequent condition encountered by women and is a potential healthcare issue. Cystitis describes the inflammation of the urinary bladder. UTI and cystitis represent a significant burden and affect the lives of patients. This review aimed to provide an overview of UTI and cystitis among women. Electronic databases were used to search for relevant articles using relevant terms. The eligible articles were those written in the English language and reporting UTI and/or cystitis among women. Despite the scarcity of literature reporting cystitis among women, it was deduced that both UTI and cystitis are considerable health issues among women; the risk factors of UTI are various and include behavior regarding sexual intercourse, pregnancy, age, diabetes, and epilepsy. The menopausal state of women affects the progression of UTI. Cystitis shares some risk factors with UTI; the available literature focused on UTI risk factors instead of discussing cystitis risk factors. Nonetheless, cystitis is linked with age-related prolapse of organs. Similarly, the treatment of both conditions shares major items, such as individualized treatment based on the causative agent, the characteristics of the patient, such as having an allergy toward specific agents, selecting the appropriate dosage and treatment duration, in other words, following the Stewardship program. However, literature and available studies that reported cystitis did not focus on cystitis and discussed UTI; therefore, there is a lack of data regarding cystitis among women.