Table 2.

Results of subgroup analyses and accuracy of leucocyte-esterase in urine dipsticks in the diagnosis of urinary tract infections or bacteriuria. (subgroups of studies without information about the study characteristic at issue are not shown) (no. of studies: 35)

Study characteristic	N	Sensitivity(95%CI)	Specificity(95%CI)	DOR(95%CI)
POPULATION#
non-urological	33	0.62 (0.54–0.71)	0.70 (0.60–0.81)	9 (6 – 12)
urological	2	0.86 (0.68–1.00)	0.93 (0.81–1.00)	276 (2 – 41974)
NON-UROLOGICAL STUDIES (N = 33)
DISEASE#
bacteriuria	8	0.56 (0.38–0.82)	0.61 (0.41–0.90)	5 (5 – 8)
UTI	25	0.64 (0.56–0.74)	0.73 (0.63–0.85)	11 (6 – 19)
SETTING
family physician	6	0.87 (0.83–0.92)	0.36 (0.21–0.64)	5 (2 – 28)
outpatient	12	0.50 (0.35–0.68)	0.80 (0.72–0.88)	8 (5 – 12)
emergency	3	0.56 90.41–0.75)	0.86 (0.74–0.99)	14 (2 – 119)
inpatient	11	0.66 (0.60–0.73)	0.81 (0.74–0.88)	11 (8 – 16)
LEVEL OF CARE
community	1	0.63 (0.08–1.00)	0.85 (0.82–0.88)	9 (1 – 72)
primary care	10	0.76 (0.60–0.98)	0.46 (0.32–0.68)	6 (3 – 11)
secondary care	8	0.48 (0.33–0.71)	0.83 (0.73–0.93)	8 (4 – 14)
tertiary care	14	0.62 (0.55–0.70)	0.84 (0.80–0.89)	13 (8 – 20)
READER OF TEST
family physician	2	0.86 (0.71–1.00)	0.17 (0.04–0.62)	2 (0.3 – 10)
nurse	7	0.67 (0.58–0.79)	0.65 (0.37–1.00)	7 (4 – 10)
clinician	2	0.34 (0.18–0.64)	0.90 (0.68–1.00)	7 (0.5 – 87)
lab worker	17	0.59 (0.47–0.73)	0.81 (0.76–0.87)	11 (7 – 18)

DOR: diagnostic odds ratio; #: DOR significantly different between subgroups