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Dipstick urinalysis is probably the most commonly performed medical screening test for diagnosis of urinary tract infection in childhood. The aim of this prospective blinded study was to assess the sensitivity and specificity of dipstick analysis and microscopic urinalysis.
A total of 1542 urine specimens were processed by urine culture, dipstick analysis (counter and nakedeye) for leucocyte esterase and nitrite and microscopic examination within two hours.
Positive results were observed for 191 (12.39 %) of the 1542 cultures. The sensitivities of dipstick analysis for leucocyte esterase and nitrite were suboptimal compared with microscopic method whereas specifities were almost equal.
In conclusion, microscopic examination should be done for dipstick-positive urines and for special circumstances.