Evaluation of three bacteriuria screening methods in a clinical research hospital

T. C. Wu, E. C. Williams, S. Y. Koo, J. D. MacLowry

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

In a study conducted to compare three screening methods for their ability to detect significant bacteriuria, 2,815 urine specimens were screened by Chemstrip LN (BioDynamics, Division of Boehringer Mannheim Chemicals, Indianapolis, Ind.), 1,000 were screened by Bac-T-Screen (Marion Scientific Laboratory, Kansas City, Mo.), and 289 were screened by ATP assay (Turner Designs, Mountain View, Calif.). Results were compared with those obtained by quantitative culture plate method. The ATP assay showed the highest sensitivity (91%) compared with the Bac-T-Screen (67%) and Chemstrip LN (50%) test but had the lowest specificity (64%) compared with the Bac-T-Screen (83%) and Chemstrip LN (91%). In 101 leukopenic patients with significant bacteriuria, the Bac-T-Screen test showed a higher sensitivity (33% at 104 to 105 CFU/ml and 80% at ≥105 CFU/ml). It is concluded from this study that none of the three methods are sufficiently sensitive for the clinical research patients in this institution.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)796-799
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Clinical Microbiology
Volume21
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 1985
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology (medical)

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