Smartphone-Based Analysis of Urine Reagent Strips Is Inaccurate for Assessing Underhydration.

Background:Proper hydration is vital for both exercise and general health. Although various methods for hydration assessment exist, many are not valid for either use or never tested.

Introduction:{'sup': '©', '#text': 'The purpose of this study was to determine whether the uChek smart phone application can be used to diagnose underhydration based on elevated urine specific gravity (USG) assessed by refractometry.'}

Methods:{'sup': '©', '#text': 'One hundred forty-seven (n\u2009=\u2009147) fresh human urine samples from young and middle-age adults were analyzed for USG with a refractometer and the uChek application by reading the Siemens Multistix 10G urine reagent strip.'}

Results:{'sup': '©', '#text': 'Bland-Altman analysis showed agreement of the two methods of assessment. Overall diagnostic ability of the uChek to identify underhydration was fair (area under the curve 79%). However, the sensitivity to correctly identify underhydration was poor (60%) as well as the specificity of correctly identifying euhydration (53%).'}

Conclusion:{'sup': '©', '#text': 'The uChek application does not accurately detect underhydration.'}