External quality control results of urine dip-slide devices.
Urinary tract infections are frequently diagnosed by using urine dip-slide devices, especially in medical practices and small laboratories. We performed a retrospective analysis of more than 3000 results obtained by several urine dip-slide devices during external quality control surveys. We found that an underestimation of bacterial counts and a difficulty in identifying mixed flora were relatively more frequent in medical practices than in specialized laboratories, and that regular participation in external quality control surveys correlates with better performances.
Morandi
Pierre-Alain
PA
Centre Suisse de Contrôle de Qualité, CH-1225 Chêne-Bourg, Switzerland. cscq@hcuge.ch
Mauris
Anne
A
Deom
André
A
Rohner
Peter
P
D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D011786:Quality Control; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic / Q000382:microbiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*
D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic