Abstract
Background A urinary tract infection (UTI) is very common and patients frequently present to their General Practitioner and emergency department with symptoms. Diagnosis of the infection is made by examining fresh urine with microscopy, to detect white cells and epithelial cells shed from the bladder or by submitting the urine for microbial culture. Patients are often requested to provide a urine specimen, but very little is known about the patient experiences of carrying out the task or their preference of specimen collection method. The aim of this study was to explore patient experiences and preferences between four different urine specimen collection methods for diagnosing the presence of a UTI.Materials Semi-structured interviews were conducted and explored patient experiences of four different urine specimen collection methods (midstream urine specimen (MSU), catheter specimen (CSU), Peezy MSU™ and Natural void). The interviews consisted of four open-ended questions and all data were collated and organised using NVivo to establish themes that emerged from the data.Results The natural void without technique was repeatedly referred to and was regarded as being the most straightforward of all of the sampling methods. Pain symptoms were described only in the catheter method and not in the MSU, Peezy MSU™ or natural void method. The catheter was regarded as the urine collection method that produced the best specimen for diagnostic testing by the patients’. Conclusion A majority of the participants expressed the desire for straightforward urine sampling methods and preferred the natural void as a standard method in clinical practice.
Urine Specimen Collection For Diagnosing a Urinary Tract Infection-Patient Experience and Preference For Urine Specimen Collection: A Qualitative Study