title: Proteinuria: accuracy and precision of laboratory diagnosis by dip-stick analysis.
abstract: We studied and compared results of two urine dip-stick procedures for protein with those of quantitative measurements of total protein and albumin in urine. Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of "normal" and "abnormal" dip-stick results, assay efficiency, technologist precision, and method association were determined. Precision was poor, attributable largely to variation within each technologist. Relative to a defined measure of precision, technologist performance appears to be uniform within each product. Patients' urinary protein concentrations of less than 200 mg/liter can be distinguished from concentrations greater than 3000 mg/liter with confidence by dip-stick procedures. Urin samples with low albumin/total protein ratios were frequently falsely negative by dip-stick assays.
mesh_terms: D005188:False Negative Reactions; D006801:Humans; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011934:Reagent Strips; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D011934:Reagent Strips