Dr K Gupta

Correspondence to: Dr K Gupta, Yale University, West Haven, CT, USA; kalpana.gupta@yale.edu

STUDY DESIGN

Design:

randomised controlled equivalence trial.

Allocation:

unclear concealment.*

Blinding:

unblinded.*

STUDY QUESTION

Setting:

a university-based outpatient clinic in the USA.

Patients:

338 women 18–45 years of age (median age 21 y) who were in good general health and had symptoms of acute cystitis (dysuria, frequency, and/or urgency) and a urine culture with ⩾10² colony forming units/ml of a uropathogen. Exclusion criteria included pregnancy, lactation, lack of regular contraceptive use, diabetes mellitus, known anatomical abnormalities of the urinary tract, allergy to study drugs, use of an antimicrobial agent for <2 weeks, and use of prophylactic antibiotics.

Intervention:

nitrofurantoin, 100 mg twice daily for 5 days (n = 171), or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX), 1 double-strength tablet twice daily for 3 days (n = 167).

Outcomes:

clinical cure at 30 days (percentage …