Predicting urinary tract infections in a urogynecology population

A retrospective chart review was performed on all new patients presenting to a urogynecology clinic. Urine dipsticks, symptoms, and cultures were evaluated to identify urinary tract infections. The most sensitive result was for the combination of nitrites or leukocytes (59%) without significant change in specificity (95%) for either result individually. The addition of the statistically significant symptoms did not improve the outcome. Based on these findings, it was determined that no combination of dipstick and/or symptoms adequately predicted an infection to the point that a recommendation to dispense with the need for a culture in this urogynecology population could be made.