Point-of-care urine analysis: independent evaluation at Addenbrooke’s Hospital

The use of dipstick technology for semi-quantitative analysis of urine samples in point of care environments is widespread. It can reduce the number of samples sent for lab testing when used in conjunction with a screening protocol where only positive samples are sent to the lab for further analysis.

The point-of-care testing team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge tested the new SURESIGN professional urine analyser and SURESIGN 10U strips against the in-use Siemens/Bayer Clinitek Status+ analysers and Multistix 10SG strips. Urinalysis test strips are used extensively in this and many other trusts for manual analysis in low-use areas. They are also used in high-throughput areas including the diabetes clinic where analysers are required to facilitate faster results production and reduce manual process and colour perception errors.

What did they do?
As urine dipsticks and analysers are predominantly used by frontline clinical staff in point-of-care settings, the Addenbrooke’s team carried out a user evaluation in clinics alongside the point-of-care laboratory evaluation. Clinic users completed feedback forms relating to ease of use, design, features and comparability, while the point-of-care laboratory evaluation focused on comparability of results.