Abstract
Urinary tract infections (UTI) are relatively common in the urology outpatient's department and the renal transplant unit. Clinical diagnosis is imprecise and laboratory methods take time and are costly. Combined rapid tests (Multistix) were used to screen 400 consecutive mid stream specimens of urine: 200 from urology outpatients and 200 from renal transplant patients. All specimens were also tested in the laboratory. The negative predictive value for excluding UTI was excellent (> 98%) but positive predictive value for confirming presence of UTI was only 50%. However, with this simple screening method, up to 75% of urines can be excluded from laboratory analysis. Since there is a 20-fold difference in cost between dipstix and laboratory testing, the potential savings from this simple screening test is considerable.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Flanagan P. G., Rooney P. G., Davies E. A., Stout R. W. Evaluation of four screening tests for bacteriuria in elderly people. Lancet. 1989 May 20;1(8647):1117–1119. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(89)92392-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Herlihy R. E., Wilkerson R., Roy J. B. New and rapid method for detection of pyuria by leukocyte esterase reaction. Urology. 1984 Feb;23(2):148–149. doi: 10.1016/0090-4295(84)90009-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hiscoke C., Yoxall H., Greig D., Lightfoot N. F. Validation of a method for the rapid diagnosis of urinary tract infection suitable for use in general practice. Br J Gen Pract. 1990 Oct;40(339):403–405. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- MOND N. C., PERCIVAL A., WILLIAMS J. D., BRUMFITT W. PRESENTATION, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT OF URINARY-TRACT INFECTIONS IN GENERAL PRACTICE. Lancet. 1965 Mar 6;1(7384):514–516. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(65)92020-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pfaller M. A., Koontz F. P. Laboratory evaluation of leukocyte esterase and nitrite tests for the detection of bacteriuria. J Clin Microbiol. 1985 May;21(5):840–842. doi: 10.1128/jcm.21.5.840-842.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Smith T. K., Hudson A. J., Spencer R. C. Evaluation of six screening methods for detecting significant bacteriuria. J Clin Pathol. 1988 Aug;41(8):904–909. doi: 10.1136/jcp.41.8.904. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]