The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of
ciprofloxacin treatment on quality of life and symptom improvement in patients with simple
cystitis. Between January 2010 and December 2010,
ciprofloxacin was administered twice daily for 5 days, and changes in the patients' symptoms, the
therapeutic effects, and changes in the Korean version of the
Urinary Tract Infection Symptoms Assessment (UTISA) score were evaluated. Patients were classified into two groups according to the self-reported degree of symptom improvement. Significant improvement was noted in symptoms such as frequency, urgency,
dysuria, tenesmus, lower abdominal discomfort,
back pain, and gross
hematuria. The treatment success group comprised 249 patients and the treatment failure group comprised 45 patients. Baseline frequency and urgency, tenesmus, and lower abdominal discomfort were worse in the treatment failure group, although the difference was significant only for frequency (p = 0.029) and urgency (p = 0.028). All UTISA subcategory scores showed improvement in the treatment success group, and the median time to symptom improvement was 2.40 days. In the treatment failure group, some UTISA subcategory scores showed significant improvement, including those for
dysuria (1.67 to 0.89), tenesmus (1.76 to 1.08), and gross
hematuria (0.80 to 0.21), although significant improvement in frequency, urgency, lower abdominal discomfort, and
back pain was not observed. The UTISA questionnaire was useful in reflecting the severity of simple
cystitis symptoms. Frequency, urgency, lower abdominal discomfort, and
back pain were not adequately improved in the treatment failure group, with frequency and urgency being predisposing factors for treatment failure.