A new method to make 24-hour urine collection more convenient: a validity study

Background and Objectives. This study proposes a novel urine collection device that can divide each urine collection into 20 parts and store and cool just one part. The aim of the current study is to compare measured biomarkers from the proposed urine collection device to those of conventional 24-hour sampling method. We also hypothesized that the new method would significantly increase patients' adherence to the timed urine collection. Methods. Two 24-hour urine samples with the conventional method and with the new automated urine collection device that uses just one-twentieth of each void were obtained from 40 healthy volunteers. Urine parameters including volume, creatinine, and protein levels were compared between the two methods and the agreement of two measurements for each subject was reported through Bland-Altman plots. Results. Our results confirmed that for all three variables, there is a positive correlation (P < 0.001) between the two measurements and high degree of agreement could be seen in Bland-Altman plots. Moreover, more subjects reported the new method as "more convenient" for 24-hour urine collection. Conclusions. Our results clearly indicate that a fixed proportion of each void may significantly reduce the urine volume in timed collections and this, in turn, may increase subjects' adherence to this difficult sampling.