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Table 2 Odds ratios and probabilities that findings of any bacteria in the urine1 are associated with symptoms.

From: Urine culture doubtful in determining etiology of diffuse symptoms among elderly individuals: a cross-sectional study of 32 nursing homes

  

Statistical correlation between bacteriuria and presence of symptom

Probability (%) for positive/negative culture to rule in/rule out that symptom is associated with bacterial finding

Symptoms

Prevalence2

Odds ratio (95% CI)

p-value

Positive/negative etiologic predictive value3

Restlessness

9.1%

1.3 (0.76-2.4)

0.31

31 (0-71)/98 (91-100)

Fatigue

12%

1.7 (1.0-2.7)

0.046

40 (0-72)/97 (91-100)

Confusion

7.5%

1.9 (1.0-3.5)

0.044

48 (0-80)/96 (86-100)

Aggressiveness

4.3%

1.7 (0.77-3.9)

0.19

31 (0-78)/98 (87-100)

Not being herself/himself

2.3%

3.3 (1.1-9.9)

0.030

74 (0-99)/88 (17-100)

Dysuria

1.8%

1.4 (0.43-4.6)

0.57

37 (0-90)/97 (72-100)

Urgency

5.5%

1.7 (0.85-3.5)

0.13

38 (0-79)/97 (87-100)

Fever

0.31%

3.2 (0.17-61)

0.44

56 (0-100)/94 (0-100)

  1. 1Any bacteria were found in the urine in 207 of 651 urine samples.
  2. 2Appearance or increase of symptom or signs within the last three months in the studied population. All patients with fever acquired this within the last week.
  3. 3Etiologic predictive value (EPV) is a statistical method used to evaluate the clinical usefulness of dichotomous diagnostic tests. It estimates predictive values when there is no proper gold standard for comparison. EPVs are presented in this table with 95% confidence interval within parenthesis. To calculate the EPV the sensitivity of a urinary culture to detect presence of bacteriuria was estimated at 90%.