Value of the urine dipstick test for leukocytes in screening for urinary tract infection

ABSTRACT A prospective study to assess the value of white cell detection in the urine as a screening test for urinary tract infection was carried out in an emergency department. Commercially available dipsticks were used to detect urinary leukocytes. A total of 105 adult female patients were entered into the study. The criterion for patient selection was the presence of urinary symptoms. All urine samples were cultured. The presence of pure growth of a single organism with a colony count of greater than 105CFU per millilitre was taken as proof of urinary tract infection and was compared with the dipstick result. A good negative predictive value was found in this study. Dipstick testing for urinary leukocytes may be useful in ruling out a urinary tract infection in emergency departments.