Patient/caregiver was instructed on risk factors for UTI in males as follows:
Prostate enlargement:
- Prostate is a gland in males, located between the urinary bladder and penis.
- Prostate surrounds the urethra, an outlet to the urinary bladder, connecting the bladder to the external urethral opening and helping with elimination of urine out of the body.
- Prostate in some individuals can be enlarged, which presses onto and narrows/closes the urethra.
- The narrowing down of urethra poses difficulty to pass urine and empty the urinary bladder.
- This leads to back-up of urine in the bladder.
- Retained urine is a very favorable medium for growth of bacteria, thus resulting in UTI.
Urinary catheterization:
- Individuals could be placed on urinary catheters for various reasons, such as, hygiene maintenance in bedbound patients, poorly managed prostate enlargement with severe difficulty passing urine, obstruction to urine flow due to renal stones, urinary incontinence in individuals with damage to brain and spinal cord, and many more.
- Catheters are placed into the urethra and can irritate and damage the urethral lining. Damaged urethral lining can be an easy target for bacteria to colonize, resulting in UTI.
