Eating Red meat and Symptomatic Lower Urinary Tract Infection among female students at King Abdul-Aziz University in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia

Background: Chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension associated-heart disease; and several different cancers were reported to be linked to high meat consumption. Assessment of urinary nutria-metabolomics was also considered and reported as a novel tool for dietary styles. Increased consumption of red meat was associated with increased risk of bladder diseases and infection. Method: This is a cross-sectional study conducted among the Rabigh colleges’ female students throughout 10 months, for measuring the prevalence of symptomatic lower urinary tract infection (LUTI) at King Abdul-Aziz University, Rabigh, Saudi Arabia, 2019. The questionnaire was distributed among 200 students through their mobile via WhatsApp. It was calculated by the sample size equation, using a mean prevalence of LUTI among teenage female. Result: Among the 230 students who received the questionnaire, the response rate was 66%, so the total current studied sample was 152 female students from different colleges in Rabigh. 75.66% of them in age (15- 24 years), and 24.34% of them were in age (25-30 years), 23.68% of them were married, and 78.29% were eating red meat. UTI prevalence was 25.66%. There was a high percentage (66.7%) of UTI among the young female (15-24 years), the married women (35.9%), the group who don’t drink enough water (69.2%), and 59.0% with a high rate of eating meat (2 times/ week). All these differences were found to be statistically significant (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: LUTI symptoms seemed to be related to increased trend towards red meat eating besides other factors e.g. water drinking and marital status.