Sensitivity and specificity of urinalysis samples in critically ill patients.

Background: Pre-emptive screening of urine for patients admitted to an intensive care unit can result in the misinterpretation of data and over- or under-treatment of urinary tract infection.

Methods: Data were studied from 169 consecutive patients admitted to the neurologic or burn intensive care unit at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida. All patients had a urinary catheter in place at the time of admission.