Background: Schizophrenia is associated with an increased prevalence of infections throughout the life span. Previous studies have found an association between urinary tract infection (UTI) and acute psychosis. We investigated the prevalence and correlates of UTI in a large cohort of patients with schizophrenia.
Methods: We estimated the prevalence of UTI at the baseline visit of the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) schizophrenia trial. We then investigated associations between UTI and inflammatory markers, psychopathology, and cognition, controlling for potential confounding factors.
Results: The prevalence of probable UTI at baseline in the CATIE trial was 1.2% (n = 13 of 1,061 participants). Compared with participants with a normal urinalysis (n = 387), after controlling for potential confounders, UTI was a significant predictor of greater impairments (approximately 1 standard deviation difference) in the cognition composite score (beta = -0.153, P = .002), and poorer working memory (beta = -0.190, P < .001). There were no differences in psychopathology scores between participants with probable UTI and those with a normal urinalysis.
Conclusions: Urinary tract infections in patients with schizophrenia may have an impact on cognition. Findings provide additional evidence regarding infectious disease comorbidity, which may be clinically relevant in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia.