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Because urine dipsticks are used widely to screen urine samples, we need to know how closely dipstick protein measurements correlate with directly measured urinary protein-creatinine (UPC) ratios. Researchers analyzed 2098 urine samples that were submitted to a hospital laboratory for simultaneous dipstick urinalysis and UPC ratio. Urine specific gravity (SG) also was factored into the analysis, since a given dipstick protein value represents a higher rate of protein excretion in dilute than in concentrated specimens.
The researchers created two 8-by-5 tables that displayed 40 combinations of urine SG values (ranging from 1.005 to 1.040) and dipstick protein values (0, 10, 30, 100, and >300 mg/dL). Each cell of one table provided the proport…