Occurrence of urinary tract infection and preventive strategies practiced by female students at a tertiary care teaching institution

BACKGROUND: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are more common in females than males and predominantly based on their unhealthy practices in their day to day lives. This study is trying to assess the occurrence of UTI and strategies used by female student to prevent UTI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study carried out in a tertiary care teaching institute. A total of 338 conveniently selected B. Sc. Nursing and MBBS Medical students were surveyed. The data were collected by using a pretested, a self-structured questionnaire related to occurrence and practices to prevent UTI along with necessary demographic details. Descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation) and inferential (Chi-square test) statistics was used to compute the data. RESULTS: The result of this study shows that 10.05% female students reported of having UTI. The proportion was higher in nursing students (67.6%) than medical (32.4%) but did not show a significance difference (P = 0.61). Age, duration of hostel life, and marital status were significantly associated with the status of UTI (P = 0.001). To prevent UTI, students were using commercial product with Tea Tree Oil, soap, drinking 3–4 l water/day, increased frequency of peri-wash during menstruation period, and use of Citrus Fruits. The use of western toilet was also significantly associated with status of UTI (P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: The occurrence of UTI was more among nursing students. Most of the perineal hygienic practices by the female students were associated with occurrence of UTI; hence, it is necessary to emphasize on preventive practices to minimize re-occurrence.