A comparison of urine microscopy and urine culture results of patients considered to have urinary tract infection

Abstract

Urinary tract infections are the diseases of the urogenital system caused by various microorganisms. Currently, the most used descriptive tests are urine strips, microscopic analysis of urine and spot bacteruria tests. The aim of this study was to present the consistency of culture results with leukocyte count determined cytometrically in the urine of patients considered to have a urinary tract infection and thereby facilitate treatment approaches. A retrospective examination was performed with the urine samples of patients sent to central laboratory of the Dicle University Hospital in January2012- December 2013. Both microscopic urine analysis and urine culture were performed for each patient on the same day. The study comprised a total of 839 patients; 222 males and 617 females. Urine culture results and urine microscopy findings of patients with positive urine strip tests were compared. With the comparison of urine culture results, positive urine microscopy findings were found to have 92%sensitivity, 26% specificity, 52% positive predictive value (PPV)and 78% negative predictive value (NPV) (p<0.001).Compared to the culture results, the urine microscopy findings of patients with positive urine strip tests were found to have high sensitivity and low specificity (p<0.001). As a result empirical antimicrobial therapy can be considered for patients with positive urine microscopy findings without waiting for culture results, and patients with negative results are recommended to have urine culture results.

Keywords

• Urinary tract infection, leukocyte number, sensitivity, specificity, microscopy