International Research Journal of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences ISSN (Online): 2581-3277 43 Çiğdem Arabacı, Çiğdem Moroğlu, Kenan Ak, Eren Vurgun, Okan Dikker, and Hüseyin Dağ, “Evaluation of Complete Urinalysis and Infection Markers in the Prediction of Urine Culture Results in All Age Groups: A Cross-Sectional Study,” International Research Journal of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences (IRJPMS), Volume 5, Issue 6, pp. 43-46, 2022. Evaluation of Complete Urinalysis and Infection Markers in the Prediction of Urine Culture Results in All Age Groups: A Cross-Sectional Study Çiğdem Arabacı 1 , Çiğdem Moroğlu 2 , Kenan Ak 1 , Eren Vurgun 3 , Okan Dikker 3 , Hüseyin Dağ 4 1 University of Health Sciences, Istanbul Prof.Dr. Cemil Taşcıoğlu City Hospital, Department of Medical Microbiology, Istanbul, Turkey 2 University of Health Sciences, Istanbul Prof.Dr. Cemil Taşcıoğlu City Hospital, Department of Infectious Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey 3 University of Health Sciences, Istanbul Prof.Dr. Cemil Taşcıoğlu City Hospital, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Istanbul, Turkey 4 University of Health Sciences, Istanbul Prof.Dr. Cemil Taşcıoğlu City Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Istanbul, Turkey Abstract— Background: While diagnosing a urinary system infection, infection indicators such as a complete urinalysis and white blood cell count (WBC), c-reactive protein (CRP), and sedimentation rate (ESR) can be used with the urinary culture which is the gold standard method. We aimed to compare these tests in patients with positive and negative urine culture results. Materials- methods: Data belonging to 604 patients with requested tests of complete urinalysis, complete blood count (CBC), CRP, ESR, and urine culture were retrospectively analyzed from the records of our hospital. The results of 222 children (<18 years) and 382 adults (≥18 years) achieved from the softwa re system were evaluated. Patients with urine cultures resulting as contaminated were excluded from the study. All statistical tests were performed with a SPSS 17.0 and the significance level for all tests was accepted as p<0.05. Results: Growth occurred in the urine cultures of 103 (%17) patients. In children, while the presence of leukocyte esterase, nitrite positivity, and microscopic leukocyturia in the complete urinalysis was found to be statistically significant in those with growth in their urine cultures, no significant difference was detected in terms of leukocytosis, ESR, and CRP levels. In adult patients, all of the leukocyte esterase, nitrite, protein, and microscopic leukocyturia values from the complete urinalysis were statistically significant in the group with growth in the urine culture. Although there was no significant difference in terms of WBC elevation, CRP and ESR were found to be higher in the group with growth in the urine culture. Conclusion: Evaluation of a complete urinalysis, especially in children, compared to blood tests, may be useful in the early diagnosis of urinary tract infections. ESR and CRP levels in addition to full urinalysis in adults, may be useful in the early diagnosis of urinary tract infections. If one or more of these tests are positive together, urine culture should be requested immediately and appropriate antibiotic therapy should be started according to the antibiogram result. Keywords— Urinalysis, infection markers, urine culture. I. INTRODUCTION he disease setting which is created by the settlement of numerous microorganisms in any area of the urinary system is usually expressed as urinary tract infection (UTI) [1]. Escherichia coli is the most commonly observed microorganism in acute infections. In recurrent UTI, especially in the presence of structural abnormalities such as obstructive uropathy, congenital anomalies, neurogenic bladder and, fistulization, the Proteus, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Enterococcus, and Staphylococcus incidence is higher [2]. In some studies, coagulase-negative staphylococci are reported as a common cause of UTIs. Staphylococcus saprophyticus is responsible for 5-15% of acute cystitis attacks seen in sexually active young women [3]. In more than 95% of UTIs, only one type of bacteria is responsible. However, Staphylococcus epidermidis, diphteroids, lactobacilli, Gardnerella vaginalis and various anaerobics often colonize in the distal urethra and skin of both men and women, and in the vagina of women but, do not play a role in the etiology of UTIs. For this reason, a urine sample must be considered as contaminated if there is growth of multiple species of bacteria or any of such colonizing bacteria in the culture [4]. The first step in the laboratory diagnosis of UTI is the microscopic examination of urine. Pyuria is the presence of at least 5-10 leukocytes/L in a fresh, non-centrifuged mid-stream urine by chamber counting. Pyuria is a nonspecific finding, and the presence of pyuria without infection is frequent. Dipstick leukocyte esterase test can also be used to determine pyuria. Sensitivity and specificity of this test is lower than those of microscopy (75-96% and 94-98%). In symptomatic patients with negative dipstick leukocyte esterase, urine microscopy should be applied or urine culture should be extracted [5]. In the majority of UTIs proteinuria (<2g/day) and, microscopic and sometimes macroscopic hematuria can be observed. A fast and indirect method for the detection of bacteriuria is the displaying of the presence of nitrite in the urine. This is created through the reduction of nitrate by the bacteria [6]. While diagnosing a urinary system infection, infection indicators such as a white blood cell count (WBC), mean platelet volume (MPV), c-reactive protein (CRP), and T