Physicians' response to abnormal results of routine urinalysis

To determine the clinical usefulness of routine urinalysis, the records of 400 patients were examined for results of the first urinalysis following admission to hospital, and the attending physician's response to abnormal findings was evaluated. Results were abnormal for 116 patients (29.0%); there were 22 (5.5% of total urinalyses) abnormalities of chemical constituents (protein, glucose or bilirubin was present) only, 56 (14.0%) of sediment only and 38 (9.5%) of both chemical constituents and sediment. The attending physician did not respond to abnormal results in 50.9% of the 116 instances.