Bacteriuria resistance patterns and the suitability of urinalysis as an initial diagnostic tool in a post-antibiotic era

AIMS: Urinalysis is used as a first-line investigation throughout healthcare to indicate bacteriuria and guide treatment of potential urinary tract infections. In light of rising bacterial multi-resistance, we aim to analyse its diagnostic accuracy, determine its usefulness in a present-day setting and evaluate current antibiotic resistance patterns across a Trust population. METHODS: A retrospective case series of 712 paired urinalysis and urine culture results was obtained over a 1-month period. Sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy were calculated, and resistance profiles of commonly used Trust antibiotics assessed using statistical analysis. RESULTS: A high false negative rate of nitrites on urinalysis, with sensitivity of 38.4%, was found. Leucocyte sensitivity was 87.6% and specificity 39.7%, with no improvement in diagnostic accuracy seen when combining both. Positive urine culture growth demonstrated a substantial resistance pattern to trimethoprim of 48%, compounded by a statistically significant correlation with gentamicin resistance (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Our study has highlighted a reduced accuracy of urinalysis compared with previous literature, questioning its usefulness in the real world. We have consolidated growing published trends doubting the efficacy of trimethoprim, revealing co-existing resistance patterns between commonly used antibiotics. This will have implications for future antibiotic-prescribing protocols and requires further research to ensure guidelines are progressive in consciously managing this growing concern in modern-day healthcare.