Evaluation of a new, semiquantitative screening culture device for urine specimens

The EZ Streak urine culture device (Difco Laboratories, Detroit, Mich.) combines the advantages of both the dip-slide and the classic urine culture technique, enabling bacterial enumeration and isolation following a simple inoculation step. Five hundred clean-catch urine specimens submitted by outpatients attending a health maintenance organization were used to compare the EZ Streak with culture using a 0.001-ml loop. Complete agreement of colony counts determined by the two methods was obtained for 114 (91.2%) of 125 positive specimens, but 99.2% of the results agreed in clinical interpretation, indicating the presence or absence of bacteriuria. Overall agreement between the EZ Streak and culture was 95.7%. The sensitivity and specificity of the EZ Streak were determined to be 98.4 and 99.4%, respectively. For this patient population, the EZ Streak was determined to be a reliable replacement for routine urine culture.