Measurement and Modification of the Accuracy of Determinations of Urine Glucose Concentration

Leonard H Epstein; P Chris Coburn; Dorothy Becker; Allan Drash; Linda Siminerio

doi:10.2337/diacare.3.4.535

Brief Communication

Measurement and Modification of the Accuracy of Determinations of Urine Glucose Concentration

Leonard H Epstein,
P Chris Coburn,
Dorothy Becker,
Allan Drash and
Linda Siminerio

Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic and Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Address reprint requests to Leonard H. Epstein, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261.

Diabetes Care 1980 Jul; 3(4): 535-536. https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.3.4.535

Abstract

Studies were designed to assess the accuracy of urine glucose testing in a sample of juvenile diabetic subjects, and to determine the effects of a visual discrimination training procedure on the accuracy. In the first study, each of 81 juvenile-diabetic children was presented three prepared glucose solutions and asked to determine the glucose concentration using the 2-Drop Clinitest method. Results showed errors in 54.3% of the judgments, with greatest difficulty occurring with 1-g/dl concentrations. The majority of errors were false negatives. Study II involved similar testing accuracy on a sample of 10 nurses and 2 research technicians, before and after a visual discrimination training procedure. Results showed that the subjects were incorrect on 39% of the trials initially, with a reduction in the error rate to less than 19% after training.