Evaluation of urinalysis parameters to predict urinary-tract infection

We evaluated the performance of automated-flow cytometry, urinalysis dipsticks and microscopic urine sediment analysis as predictors of urinary tract infection. Urine cultures were used as a reference method for comparison. Six-hundred-seventy-five urine samples from hospitalized and not hospitalized patients attended at Hospital Mae de Deus, Porto Alegre, in south Brazil, were included in the study. Among the individual measures analyzed, intense bacteriuria in the microscopic analysis of urinary sediment gave an accuracy of 92.9%. A combination between intense bacteriuria (microscopic analysis) and > 20 leukocytes per mu L of urine (flow cytometry) gave a higher accuracy (97.3%). We conclude that though it is laborious, microscopic urinalysis is a good analytical tool. Taken together with flow cytometry and dipsticks, we obtained a clinically-acceptable prediction of urinary-tract infection.