Women who drank more water had less frequent urinary tract infections

Bottom Line: Premenopausal women with recurrent urinary tract infections (cystitis) who drank more water had less frequent infections in a randomized clinical trial. The study included 140 women with recurrent cystitis who reported drinking less than 1.5 liters of total fluid daily (about six 8-ounce glasses). During the 12 months of the trial, half the women were assigned to drink 1.5 liters of water in addition to their regular fluids, while the others not change their regular fluid intake. Episodes of cystitis were less frequent in women who drank more water for 12 months (average number of cystitis episodes was 1.7 for the women who drank more water compared with 3.2 for the women who didn't). The study can't tell researchers what amount of daily water intake is sufficient to reduce the risk of urinary tract infections or whether drinking more water is beneficial for women at lower risk for recurrent cystitis or women who regularly drink more fluids than those in this study. The authors suggest that drinking more water is a safe and inexpensive alternative strategy to prescribing antimicrobial treatment to try to prevent these infections.

Authors: Thomas M. Hooton, M.D., of University of Miami, Florida, and coauthors

Related Material: The Editor's Note, "Drinking More Water for Prevention of Recurrent Cystitis," by JAMA Internal Medicine Deputy Editor Deborah Grady, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of California San Francisco, also is available on the For The Media website.

To Learn More: The full study is available on the For The Media website.

(doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.4204)

Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

###