Association between osteoarthritis and urinary tract infection in older adults: A nationwide population-based cohort study

Osteoarthritis (OA) may increase urinary tract infection (UTI) in older adults. However, this issue remains unclear. We identified 8599 older patients (≥65 years) with OA, and an equal number of older patients without OA, matched by age, sex, and index date from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database between 2001 and 2005. Past histories, including UTI and underlying comorbidities, were included in the analyses. Comparisons for any UTI, ≥1 hospitalization for UTI, and ≥3 hospitalizations for UTI between the 2 cohorts by following up until 2015 were performed. In both cohorts, the percentages of age subgroups were 65–74 years (65.7%), 75–84 years (30.1%), and ≥85 years (4.2%). The male sex was 42.4%. Patients with OA had an increased risk of any UTI compared with those without OA after adjusting for all past histories (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR]: 1.72; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.64–1.80). Compared with patients without OA, patients with OA also had an increased risk of ≥1 hospitalization for UTI and ≥3 hospitalizations for UTI (AHR: 1.13; 95% CI: 1.06–1.19 and AHR: 1.25; 95% CI: 1.13−1.38, respectively). In addition to OA, age 75–84 years, female sex, history of UTI, benign prostatic hyperplasia, indwelling urinary catheter, cerebrovascular disease, dementia, and urolithiasis were independent predictors for any UTI. This study showed that OA was associated with UTI in older adults. We suggest appropriately managing OA and controlling underlying comorbidities to prevent subsequent UTI.