Roles of Urology as Assessed by an Analysis of Inpatients Referred to Urology 623 gesting complicated urinary tract infections are male sex, elderly age, hospital-acquired infection, pregnancy, in- dwelling urinary catheter, diabetes mellitus, immuno- suppression, and recent antimicrobial use [28]. Patients in the hospital frequently show fragile physiques with a high level of accompanying diseases; thus, the occurrence of in- fections would have more serious results. Accordingly, it is important to prevent urinary tract infections in patients in the hospital and to treat such infections early. Indiscreet use of catheters, one of the most important causes, and un- necessary long-time custody should be avoided. Also, in the case of elderly patients with diseases that may cause dysu- ria, such as neurogenic bladder and benign prostatic hyper- trophy, the occurrence of urinary tract infections may be increased; thus, management with regard to such in- fections should be given due consideration. In this study, there were 69 primary hospitals in Gwangju, only one of which had a department of urology, although most of them had internal medicine, orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, and general surgery. When we ex- amined the collaborative practice cases referred to the de- partment of urology in Chosun University Hospital, we found that most of the referrals were made by internal med- icine, orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, and general sur- gery, and the most frequent disease was urination disorder. It is possible that the urination disorder, urinary tract infection, and erectile dysfunction that are frequent complaints of inpatients, and the urination disorder after operations for non-genitourinary diseases, could be pre- vented with the interest and attention of the doctors in oth- er departments and that these disorders are not treated in their early stages because of the absence of a urologist. As the society ages, more and more people use medical services such as nursing hospitals, but urination disorder and its complications are not properly treated because of the ab- sence of urologists. Efforts should be made to improve the quality of life of the patients by administrating proper methods and education. CONCLUSIONS In this analysis of the cooperative behavior in our hospital over a 3-year period, older patients over the age of 60 with urination disorder occupied a high percentage of the coop- erative behavior cases. 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