Diagnostic performance of urine dipstick test for urinary tract infection screening in individuals with spinal cord injury

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the diagnostic performance of urine dipstick test for urinary tract infection (UTI) screening in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. Study Design: A cross-sectional diagnostic study. Setting: Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen, Thailand. Participants: SCI patients with neurogenic bladder. Materials and Methods: This study was a cross-sectional diagnostic study that compared the urine dipstick test (index test) with the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) criteria (gold standard test) in SCI patients. The urine dipstick test reported positive and negative results. Moreover, the NIDRR criteria classified participants as patients with UTI and patients with no UTI. The diagnostic performance of urine dipstick test for UTI screening was measured in terms of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), positive likelihood ratio (+LR), and negative likelihood ratio (-LR) and was summarized in percentage with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Out of the 77 participants, most of participants were paraplegia (74%). The combined nitrite and leukocyte esterase urine dipstick test showed the highest sensitivity (93%), PPV (79%), NPV (85%), and +LR (2.39), respectively. The urine dipstick test of nitrite gave the highest specificity (69%). The most common uropathogen was Escherichia coli (33%). Conclusion: In SCI patients, the combined positive nitrite and leukocyte esterase urine dipstick test showed the highest sensitivity. The combined nitrite and leukocyte esterase urine dipstick test should be promoted as a screening test for UTI in SCI patients.