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The classic symptoms of a urinary tract infection (UTI) are burning pain and frequent urination. UTIs may not cause these classic symptoms in older adults. Instead, older adults, especially those with dementia, may experience behavioral symptoms such as confusion.

Although the connection between UTI and confusion has been established, the reason for this connection is still unknown.

The urinary tract includes:

  • the urethra, which is the opening that carries urine from your bladder
  • the ureters
  • the bladder
  • the kidneys

When bacteria enter the urethra and your immune system doesn’t fight them off, they may spread to the bladder and kidneys. The result is a UTI.

A study reports that UTIs were responsible for around 10.5 million doctor visits in the United States in 2007. Women are more likely to get UTIs than men because their urethras are shorter than men’s.

Your UTI risk increases with age. According to one study, more than one-third of all infections in people in nursing homes are UTIs. More than 10 percent of women over age 65 report having a UTI within the past year. That number increases to almost 30 percent in women over 85.

Men also tend to experience more UTIs as they age.

It may be hard to figure out that an older adult has a UTI because they don’t always show classic signs. This may be due to a slower or suppressed immune response.

Classic UTI symptoms include:

When an older adult has classic UTI symptoms, they may be unable to tell you about them. That may be due to age-related issues such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Symptoms such as confusion may be vague and mimic other conditions.

Other UTI symptoms may include:

Other symptoms may occur if the infection spreads to the kidneys. These severe symptoms can include:

The main cause of UTIs, at any age, is usually bacteria. Escherichia coli is the primary cause, but other organisms can also cause a UTI.

In older adults who use catheters or live in a nursing home or other full-time care facility, bacteria such as Enterococci and Staphylococci are more common causes.

Certain factors may increase the risk of UTIs in older people.

Conditions common in older adults may lead to urinary retention or neurogenic bladder. This increases the risk of UTIs. These conditions include Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and diabetes.

They often require people to wear incontinence briefs. If the briefs aren’t changed regularly, an infection may occur.

Several other things put older adults at risk for developing a UTI:

In women

Postmenopausal women are at risk of UTIs because of estrogen deficiency. Estrogen may help protect the vagina and urethra from an overgrowth of E. coli. When estrogen decreases during menopause, E. coli may take over and trigger an infection.

In men

The following may increase the risk of UTIs in men:

Vague, uncommon symptoms such as confusion make UTIs challenging to diagnose in many older adults. If your doctor suspects a UTI, a urinalysis will likely be ordered along with other tests to determine the true cause of the symptoms.

Your doctor may perform a urine culture to determine the type of bacteria causing the infection and the best antibiotic to treat it.

There are home UTI tests that check urine for nitrates and leukocytes. Both are often present in UTIs. Because bacteria are often in the urine of older adults to some degree, these tests aren’t always accurate. Call your doctor if you take a home test and get a positive result.

Not every UTI requires treatment with antibiotics. For example, asymptomatic older adults in hospitals and residential care facilities are usually not prescribed antibiotics because of the risk of drug resistance and even more dangerous opportunistic infections. When indicated, antibiotics are the treatment of choice for symptomatic UTIs. Your doctor may prescribe amoxicillin and nitrofurantoin (Macrobid, Macrodantin).

More severe infections may require a broad-spectrum antibiotic such as ciprofloxacin (Cetraxal, Ciloxan) and levofloxacin (Levaquin).

You should start antibiotics as soon as possible and take them for the entire duration of treatment as prescribed by your doctor. Stopping treatment early, even if symptoms resolve, increases the risks of recurrence and antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic overuse also increases your risk for antibiotic resistance. For this reason, your doctor will likely prescribe the shortest treatment course possible. Treatment typically lasts no more than 7 days, and your infection should clear up in a few days.

It’s important to drink plenty of water during treatment to help flush out the remaining bacteria.

People who have two or more UTIs in 6 months or three or more UTIs in 12 months can use prophylactic antibiotics. This means taking an antibiotic every day to prevent a UTI.

Healthy older adults may want to try over-the-counter UTI pain relievers such as phenazopyridine (Azo), acetaminophen (Tylenol), or ibuprofen (Advil) to ease burning and frequent urination.

Other medications are also available online.

A heating pad or hot water bottle may help relieve pelvic pain and back pain. Older adults who have other medical conditions shouldn’t use home remedies without first consulting a doctor.

It’s impossible to prevent all UTIs, but there are steps that help lessen a person’s chance of infection. They can do this by:

  • drinking plenty of fluids
  • changing incontinence briefs frequently
  • avoiding bladder irritants, such as caffeine and alcohol
  • keeping the genital area clean by wiping front to back after going to the bathroom
  • not using douches
  • urinating as soon as the urge hits
  • using vaginal estrogen

Proper nursing home or long-term care is critical in preventing UTIs, especially for people who are immobile and unable to take care of themselves. They rely on others to keep them clean and dry.

If you or a loved one is a nursing home resident, talk to management about how they manage personal hygiene. Make sure they’re aware of UTI symptoms in older adults and how to respond.

A UTI can cause confusion and other symptoms of dementia in older adults. Taking preventive steps and looking out for UTI symptoms should help prevent infection. If your doctor diagnoses a UTI early, your outlook is good.

Antibiotics cure most UTIs. Without treatment, a UTI can spread to the kidneys and the bloodstream. This may lead to a life threatening blood infection. Severe infections may require hospitalization for intravenous antibiotics. These can take weeks to resolve.

Get medical attention if you suspect that you or a loved one has a UTI.