As many as 25% of women with acute cystitis can develop frequent, recurrent UTIs, which are reinfections, not relapses. (Fewer than 5% of these women have a correctable structural or functional abnormality of the urinary tract.) Management strategies include daily or postcoital prophylaxis and self-start therapy for women concerned about developing a UTI when they are away from home, she added.
Contraceptive methods should be evaluated, Dr. Brown said. She also considers prescribing topical estrogen for postmenopausal women who have recurrent UTIs.