Urine Test Strip - Characteristics

Characteristics

The test strips consist of a ribbon made of plastic or paper of about 5 millimetre wide, plastic strips have pads impregnated with chemicals that react with the compounds present in urine producing a characteristic colour. For the paper strips the reactants are absorbed directly onto the paper. Paper strips are often specific to a single reaction (e.g. pH measurement), while the strips with pads allow several determinations simultaneously.

There are strips which serve different purposes, such as qualitative strips that only determine if the sample is positive or negative, or there are semi-quantitative ones that in addition to providing a positive or negative reaction also provide an estimation of a quantitative result, in the latter the colour reactions are approximately proportional to the concentration of the substance being tested for in the sample. The reading of the results is carried out by comparing the pad colours with a colour scale provided by the manufacturer, no additional equipment is needed.

This type of analysis is very common in the control and monitoring of diabetic patients. The time taken for the appearance of the test results on the strip can vary from a few minutes after the test to 30 minutes after immersion of the strip in the urine (depending on the brand of product being used).

Semi-quantitative values are usually reported as: trace, 1+, 2+, 3+ and 4+; although tests can also be estimated as milligrams per decilitre. Automated readers of test strips also provide results using units from the International System of Units.