NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - About one in seven women who receive an antibiotic to treat a urinary tract infection (UTI) will require a second course of medication, UK researchers report.

Their study found that about 14% of UTI patients returned to their physician within 28 days for further treatment regardless of the type of antibiotic prescribed initially. Although not all UTIs are caused by bacteria, nearly all doctors will prescribe antibiotics before the results of tests on what has caused the infection are known, according to Drs. Ross A. Lawrenson and John W. Logie from the University of Surrey in Guildford, UK.

It is not clear whether antibiotic resistance, the failure to take the medication or another reason is behind the findings, Lawrenson and Logie report in a recent issue of the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

The study included more than 75,000 women aged 15 to 44 who were treated and prescribed an antibiotic for a UTI. Overall, 14% received a second antibiotic within 4 weeks. Women between 35 and 44 years old, pregnant women and those with diabetes were significantly more likely to require additional medication, the report indicates.

Patients who received amoxicillin, a frequently prescribed drug associated with increasing rates of antibiotic resistance, were also more likely to require further medication, while women who received co-trimoxazole, which is less frequently prescribed, were less likely to need a second course.

Antibiotics taken for 3 days were as effective as those taken for 5 to 7 days, the investigators found.

``This study gives doctors some observational evidence of the effectiveness of antibiotic prescribing in young women with UTIs and suggests that whichever antibiotic is prescribed, between 12% to 16% will return within 28 days for a further course of treatment,'' the researchers conclude.

SOURCE: Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2001;48:895-901.

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