[Usefulness of urine dipsticks in the diagnosis of microscopic hematuria]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of urine dipstick for diagnosing microscopic haematuria. We prospectively reanalyzed 122 consecutive urine samples, that had been read positive for blood by dipstick testing in two hospital departments, with repeated dipstick testing and fractionated microscopy at the laboratory. Out of these 53/122 (43%) were negative at the new dipstick analysis and 67/122 (55%) were negative by urine microscopy. We further examined urine samples from 31 healthy employees at the laboratory. Urine was collected before and after accurate instruction in the procedure for midstream urine sample. A complete correlation between dipstick analysis and microscopy was found. Samples from 8/31 (25%) persons showed microscopic haematuria before instructions and 6/31 (19%) after. It is concluded that instruction in correct dipstick reading and urine sampling could reduce the number of patients with microscopic haematuria by approximately 50%.