title: A dipstick test combined with urine specific gravity improved the accuracy of proteinuria determination in pregnancy screening.
abstract: Proteinuria screening using a semi-quantitative dipstick test of the spot urine in antenatal clinic is known to have high false-positive rates. The aim of this study was to assess availability of a dipstick test combined with the urine specific gravity for the determination of pathological proteinuria. A dipstick test was performed on 582 urine samples obtained from 283 pregnant women comprising 260 with normal blood pressure and 23 with pregnancy-induced hypertension. The urine protein (P) and creatinine (C) concentrations, specific gravity (SG), P/C ratio were determined, and compared with dipstick test results. The P concentration increased along the stepwise augmentations in dipstick test result. Frequencies of the urine samples with 0.265 or more P/C ratio were 0.7% with - dipstick test result, 0.7% with the ± result, 3.3% with the 1+ result, and 88.9% with the ≥2+ result. However, if the urine specific gravity was low, frequencies of the high P/C ratio were 5.0% with ± dipstick test result and 9.3% with the 1+ result. A dipstick test result of ≥2+ seems appropriate for a criterion of positive screening for pathological proteinuria in antenatal care. A dipstick test combined with the urine specific gravity may be useful for outpatient clinic screening.
authors.affiliation: Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Surgery-related, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, 650-0017, Japan.
authors.forename: Natsuko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Makihara
authors.forename: Mineo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Hideto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamada
mesh_terms: D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D046110:Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced / Q000652:urine; D011247:Pregnancy; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000652:urine*; D011934:Reagent Strips; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013046:Specific Gravity; D014556:Urine
chemical_list: D011934:Reagent Strips; D003404:Creatinine