Investigation of Prevalence, Etiological Factors and Risk Factors of Urinary Tract Infection in Spinal Cord Injury Patients

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common infection that constitutes a significant portion of all hospital infections. Objectives: Given the importance of spinal cord trauma, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence, etiological factors, and risk factors of UTI in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. Methods: In this study, patients were examined daily. If a diagnosis of UTI was confirmed, based on laboratory results and the attending physician s opinion, they were included in the study. A researcher-made checklist was then completed by the researchers. Results: The results showed that 89 (67.4%) of the patients were male, and 101 (76.5%) were married. Additionally, 44.7% of the patients were hospitalized due to traffic accidents. The results also indicated that 30.3% of patients had hematuria, 35.5% had fever, and 12.9% had scrotal pain or turbid urine. Regarding the microorganisms identified, 55.3% of patients had Escherichia coli, 11.4% had Proteus, 9.1% had Klebsiella, and 7.6% had Candida spp. Conclusions: Given the significant prevalence of UTI in patients, necessary preventive measures should be implemented to prevent infections.