Prevalence of Urinary Tract Infection in Childhood

Knowledge of baseline risk of urinary tract infection can help clinicians make informed diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. We conducted a meta-analysis to determine the pooled prevalence of urinary tract infection (UTI) in children by age, gender, race, and circumcision status.

MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched for articles about pediatric urinary tract infection. Search terms included urinary tract infection, cystitis, pyelonephritis, prevalence and incidence. We included articles in our review if they contained data on the prevalence of UTI in children 0-19 years of age presenting with symptoms of UTI. Of the 51 articles with data on UTI prevalence, 18 met all inclusion criteria. Two evaluators independently reviewed, rated, and abstracted data from each article.