Objective: To compare the prevalence of genitourinary abnormalities in men diagnosed with urinary tract infection (UTI) in a Cameroonian hospital and those without.
Patients and methods: Consecutive adult men aged 18-75 years, whose midstream urine samples were received for microscopy, culture and sensitivity at the microbiology laboratory of the Yaounde University Teaching Hospital, Cameroon, constituted the study population. Genitourinary abnormalities were diagnosed from history, physical examination, abdominal and transrectal ultrasonography, plain abdominal X-ray, and if indicated urethrocystoscopy and biopsy.
Results: Of the 206 patients who qualified, 179 completed the study and 63 (35.2%) were found to have UTI. A total of 41 (65.1%) patients with UTI (mean age 69.2 years) had at least one genitourinary abnormality, compared to 13 (11.2%) of those without UTI (mean age 61.9 years) (P < 0.001). The age-adjusted prevalence of genitourinary abnormalities was 59.4% in the UTI group and 12.1% in the non-UTI group (P < 0.001). The most frequent genitourinary abnormality in men with UTI was benign prostatic enlargement, followed by urethral stricture. The crude odds ratio (95% confidence intervals) for UTI associated with genitourinary abnormality was 14.77 (6.80-32.05), and the adjusted odds ratio 11.51 (7.08-29.46).
Conclusion: Urological evaluation of Cameroonian men with UTI, using simple history taking, physical examination, ultrasound examination and plain abdominal X-ray, could have significant clinical benefits in this tropical African region.