AUTOMATED REAGENT STRIP URINALYSIS - UTILITY IN REDUCING WORK LOAD OF URINE MICROSCOPY AND CULTURE

This study correlated automated reagent strip results and urine micro-scopic findings, evaluated a screening protocol for use prior to microscopy, and determined whether urinalysis results could be used to reduce the frequency of negative urine cultures. Results from the reagent strip blood tests strongly correlated with the number of erythrocytes per high-power field. Reagent strip leukocyte esterase levels strongly correlated with the number of white blood cells per high-power field. A macroscopic screening protocol, using turbidity plus reagent strip protein, blood, and leukocyte esterase tests, detected more than 90% of urine specimens that contained abnormal formed elements. No combination of screening tests is effective in avoiding unnecessary urine culture when the cut point for a positive culture is 10,000 colony-forming units per milliliter of urine.