The diagnostic accuracy of urine dipsticks was investigated using two
different brands in five endemic communities of south-western Nigeria. The BM-
5L test was used in 1992 to screen 566 subjects in two communities in Ogun State,
while 1457 subjects in three other communities in Osun State were screened with
the Combur-9 test in 2006. Haematuria gave a higher prevalence of infection than
proteinuria irrespective of which strip brand was used (e.g. BM-5L test: 58.3 and
36.2%; Combur-9 test: 46.5 and 41.9%, respectively). Compared with egg
microscopy (gold standard), haematuria identified over 90% of egg-positive
samples using either the BM-5L test in 1992 or the Combur-9 test in 2006.
The corresponding values for proteinuria were 58% using the BM-5L test and
82% using the Combur-9 test. Sensitivity of haematuria to infection was higher
using the BM-5L test (92.4–93.5%) than Combur-9 (58.6–73.3%), while
sensitivity of proteinuria to infection was higher using Combur-9 (55.5–80.4%)
than BM-5L test (26.0–58.3%). However, both strip brands have comparable
specificity for haematuria (BM-5L test, 88.3–99.5%; Combur-9, 88.9–100%) and
proteinuria (BM-5L test, 94.4–100%; Combur-9, 98.7–100%) to infection. Based
on these results we conclude that neither brand nor manufacturer has a
significance effect on the performance of chemical reagent strips. However, the
diagnostic value of both haematuria and proteinuria varied according to the
positivity level adopted, intensity of infection and age, but was not affected by
sex and village of residence.