A Comparison of Urinalysis Using Dipstick Tests and Urine Culture for Diagnosing Urinary Tract Infections at Hat Yai Hospital, Songkhla Province
Keywords:
Rapid urine strip test, Urinary tract infection, Nitrite, Leukocyte esterase, total WBCAbstract
This research is a comparative study between the rapid urine strip tests, nitrite (N) and leukocyte esterase (LE) and white blood cell count (WBC) and urine culture for their diagnostic performance. A cross-sectional analytical study was done. Urine samples were collected from patients suspected of urinary tract infections (UTIs) and examined by rapid urine strip test and urine culture between March 1st and September 30th, 2021. A total of 573 samples were included in the study. The comparison of workload and data collection costs between March 1stand September 30th, 2021. It was found that microorganisms were identified by urine culture in 49.91% of the samples, predominantly Gram-negative bacteria. The most common organism was Escherichia coli, followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterococcus faecalis at 53.67%, 10.26%, and 7.04%, respectively. The combination of dipstick tests N, LE, and WBC demonstrated sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy values of 92.66%, 43.55%, 62.06%, 85.62%, and 68.06%, respectively. The positive and negative likelihood ratios were 1.64 and 0.17, respectively. This approach can be an effective screening tool for UTIs before conducting urine culture. The implementation of initial screening using dipstick tests performed by ward nurses, followed by secondary screening in the laboratory, resulted in a reduction in both workload and costs.References
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