Medical Journal of Mashhad university of Medical Sciences

Medical Journal of Mashhad university of Medical Sciences

Investigating the relationship between idiopathic hypercalciuria and recurrent urinary tract infection in children aged six months to 16 years

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Fatemeh Ghane Sherbaf 1
Sara Saadat 1
Elham Bakhtiari 2
Elham NikRouh 3
1 Department of pediatric diseases Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
2 Clinical research development Unit, Mashhad University of Medical sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
3 Faculty of medicine, Mashhad University of Medical sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
10.22038/mjms.2025.78008.4551
Abstract
Introduction: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common pediatric infection and the second most frequent infection after respiratory infections. There is limited evidence on whether hypercalciuria influences UTI risk. This study evaluated the relationship between idiopathic hypercalciuria and recurrent UTI in children aged six months to 16 years.
Methods: This case-control study (2019–2020) enrolled 50 children with recurrent UTIs (cases) and 50 healthy children with negative urine cultures (controls). Spot measurements of urinary calcium and creatinine were used to assess hypercalciuria status. For those with hypercalciuria, serum calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase, urea, and creatinine were measured to exclude secondary causes. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS version 26 to compare groups.
Results: The mean ages were 38.2 ± 7.12 months for controls and 32.4 ± 6.14 months for cases (p = 0.23). Gender distribution was 36 males and 64 females (p = 0.83). The mean urinary calcium-to-creatinine ratio was 0.34 ± 0.14 in cases and 0.37 ± 0.13 in controls (p = 0.24). Distribution of normal versus abnormal urinary calcium-to-creatinine ratio showed no significant difference between groups (p = 0.04). Overall, there was no significant association between hypercalciuria and recurrent UTIs (odds ratio = 0.219; 95% CI: 0.044–1.088; p = 0.06).
Conclusion: Based on the findings, although the proportion of abnormal urinary calcium-to-creatinine ratio tended to be higher in the control group than in the case group, this does not increase the likelihood of developing a UTI.
Keywords
Hypercalciuria
Urinary Tract Infections
pediatrics
Subjects
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Medical Journal of Mashhad university of Medical Sciences
Volume 68, Issue 5
November and December 2025
Pages 1309-1316