A retrospective study of predictive value of Gram staining in the diagnosis of urinary tract infection

Abstract

One of the most common infection among humans is Urinary Tract Infection that almost every person will get atleast once in their lifetime. Timely diagnosis and treatment are necessary to reduce the complications from UTI particularly among patients with comorbidities. Urine culture is considered as the gold standard diagnostic test for UTI, however it is costly and time consuming. In this study we evaluated Urine Gram stain that can be used as screening test that is also cost effective with less turn around time. The Sensitivity, Specificity, Positive predictive value (PPV) and Negative predictive value (NPV) of Urinary Gram stain were assessed with gold standard culture and sensitivity that showed the point-of-care Gram stain and pyuria can be used as rapid diagnostic test for UTI, which can be carried out quickly at low cost.