Today, we’re speaking to Professor Miriam Santer, a GP in Dorset and Professor of Primary Care Research based at the University of Southampton.
Title of paper: Non-antibiotic interventions to prevent recurrent urinary tract infections in women: overview of systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials
Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2026.0055
Recurrent urinary tract infection (UTI) is very common and defined as two or more UTIs in
the last six months or three or more UTIs in the last 12 months. Long-term antibiotic
prophylaxis is widely used but other preventative strategies have been suggested. This
overview of systematic reviews found good evidence for some treatments but identified
unresolved questions such as treatment adherence for vaginal oestrogen, questions about
long-term use for methenamine hippurate and optimal dosage for cranberry. Increased fluid
intake has been shown to be of benefit for women drinking less than 1.5 litres at baseline
but is without robust evidence in other groups. The evidence base is still developing for
other treatments, such as vaccines.
