Dosing Study of Cranberry Capsules for the Prevention of Bacteriuria in Nursing Home Residents

Pilot Study: Dosing Study of Cranberry Capsules for the Prevention of Bacteriuria in Nursing Home Residents

This study will investigate whether there is a particular dose of cranberry capsules that is effective in preventing the occurrence of urinary tract infections in females at least 65 years of age or older who live in a nursing home and who have a history of urinary tract infections. The Yale research team will be enrolling 80 subjects in total over several nursing home locations within Connecticut.

Each subject was enrolled after providing a baseline urine specimen. Cranberry/placebo capsules were consumed for 30 days. Urine specimens were obtained weekly for 4 weeks.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Female nursing home residents 65 years of age or older with history of urinary tract infection within the past year.

Exclusion Criteria:

• residents that are not expected to be in the nursing home for at least one month (i.e., short term rehabilitation, pending discharge, terminal [life expectancy < 1 month]);
• residents who are on chronic suppressive antibiotic or anti-infective (i.e., mandelamine) therapy for recurrent UTI;
• residents with end stage renal disease on dialysis (they do not regularly produce urine);
• residents unable to produce a baseline clean catch urine specimen for collection;
• residents on warfarin therapy because of a potential interaction of warfarin and cranberry juice;
• residents with a history of nephrolithiasis because cranberry may increase the risk of nephrolithiasis.