Dear Eleri,
The best systematic reviews I know on dipstick testing in children
are:
American Academy of Pediatrics - Downs SM. Technical Report: Urinary
Tract Infections in
febrile infants and young children. Pediatrics 1999. 103 (4)
http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/103/4/e54
Gorelick MH, KN Shaw. Screening tests for Urinary Tract
Infections in children: a meta-analysis.
Pediatrics, 1999. 104 (5): B1-B7
http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/103/5/e54
"Evidence in a nutshell": the sensitivity for
UTIs of Nitrites+leukocyte esterase+microsc.exam. for leukocytes can
approximate 100%, with an LR(-) near to zero, it depends on local
conditions and the state of art. Assuming that, pretest probabilities
should be less important in case of a negative result (SnNout). Medium
specificity is described as 0.7 (0.6-0.9).
Giuseppe
Dr. Giuseppe Giocoli
Gruppo di Lavoro EBM
Associazione Microbiologi Clinici Italiani
Via Sarca, 19
25015 DESENZANO d/G (BS) Italia
At 13.29 23/04/02 +0100, Eleri Tyler wrote:
Sorry for the previous empty
e-mail.
I have been asked a very generic question on dipstick testing for
diagnosis of UTI. The literature I have managed to find gives a variety
of sensitivities and specificities depending on the population tested and
their prior probability of having a UTI.
Does anyone know of a source which has pulled together this data. into a
readable table or accessible summary.
Thanks
Eleri Tyler
Clinical Information Analyst
01495 745855