Randomised trial of cranberry-lingonberry juice and Lactobacillus GG drink for the prevention of urinary tract infections in women

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether recurrences of urinary tract infection can be prevented with cranberry-lingonberry juice or with Lactobacillus GG drink.

Design: Open, randomised controlled 12 month follow up trial.

Setting: Health centres for university students and staff of university hospital.

Participants: 150 women with urinary tract infection caused by Escherichia coli randomly allocated into three groups.

Interventions: 50 ml of cranberry-lingonberry juice concentrate daily for six months or 100 ml of lactobacillus drink five days a week for one year, or no intervention.

Main outcome measure: First recurrence of symptomatic urinary tract infection, defined as bacterial growth >/=10(5 )colony forming units/ml in a clean voided midstream urine specimen.

Results: The cumulative rate of first recurrence of urinary tract infection during the 12 month follow up differed significantly between the groups (P=0.048). At six months, eight (16%) women in the cranberry group, 19 (39%) in the lactobacillus group, and 18 (36%) in the control group had had at least one recurrence. This is a 20% reduction in absolute risk in the cranberry group compared with the control group (95% confidence interval 3% to 36%, P=0.023, number needed to treat=5, 95% confidence interval 3 to 34).

Conclusion: Regular drinking of cranberry juice but not lactobacillus seems to reduce the recurrence of urinary tract infection.

Figure 1

Design of trial

Figure 2

Cumulative rate of first recurrence of urinary tract infection during 12 month follow up in women receiving cranberry juice for six months, Lactobacillus GG drink for 12 months, or no intervention. The difference between groups was significant (P=0.023 at 6 months, 0.048 at 12 months). Occurrence of urinary tract infection was significantly lower in cranberry group than in control group (P=0.014 at 6 months, 0.052 at 12 months)