Initial treatment decisions in urinary tract infection.

Family physicians commonly deal with urinary symptoms in their female patients, but there is no valid method of achieving a firm diagnosis at the initial visit. Records of 654 episodes reported as UTI during a three year period were reviewed; the accuracy of the therapeutic decision at the initial visit was found to be 45.8%. In reaching this decision, it is possible that physicians overestimated the probability of UTI. The desire to relieve symptoms may also affect therapeutic decisions.