The Quantab strip in the measurement of urinary chloride and sodium concentrations.

The "Quantab" strip (Ames) measures chloride in fluids. For sodium chloride solutions and urine we found very good correlations between the Quantab reading and the chloride concentration as measured by chemical assay (r = 0.95 for chloride and r = 0.85 for sodium in urine). The strip gave reproducible results over the temperature range 4 to 37 degrees C. There was very little inter- and intra-observer variation in reading the strip. Although 10 to 23 min is required to complete the reaction, the strip reading is stable thereafter. We suggest that the strip could be useful in epidemiological studies of urinary sodium concentration and clinically in helping patients adhere to a low-salt diet.