Abstract

Point of Care Testing (POCT) urinalysis involves performing tests nearer to patients -point of care using reagent strips which allow measurements of the following in urine: bilirubin, blood, glucose, ketones, leukocytes, nitrite, pH, protein, specific gravity and urobilinogen. It is one of the most common tests carried out in medical practice. Internal Quality Control (IQC) strip is mandatory to ensure the quality of urinalysis and for accreditation of the test.

Methods: In a secondary care centre we validated the use of two level IQC for Siemens Chek-Stix^® Combo Pak for a week without any deterioration in the readings of any of the ten parameters, by increasing the contact time of the IQC strip with distilled water from thirty minutes to two hours.

Conclusion: This in-house validation of IQC for urinalysis helped to reduce cost of laboratory two level IQC substantially. This simple procedure can be easily emulated in small laboratories and for POCT urinalysis.

Keywords: Urinalysis; Internal quality controls; Dipstick