How to Read Urine Reagent Strips

Medical workers use dry reagent strips, or “dipsticks,” to detect excretions in the urine that indicate disease. Different strips can test for different excretions--and therefore different diseases, from inadequate insulin to cancer. Test strips come in containers with color charts to which you would compare the test strip. They also come with color charts on flat cards for alternative comparison. Mechanical readers are also available, and deemed more accurate than manually reading the strip.

Things You'll Need

• Timer

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Instructions

• 1

  Collect fresh urine in a dry, clean vessel.

• 2

  Remove one reagent strip from its container and immediately close the container again, to prevent the surrounding air from affecting the other strips’ color.

• 3

  Dip the reaction area of the strip into the urine, simultaneously starting a timer. Make sure the strip is well-saturated. Wipe the edge (not the broad side) of the strip on the edge of the urine vessel to remove excess urine.

• 4

  Lay the strip alongside the color chart and find the color in the chart that the strip matches 60 seconds after the initial dipping. Use good light, such as fluorescent light, to see well. (Although the fluorescent light can affect how the colors look, both the chart and the strip will be affected, and comparison of colors is what matters.) Don’t lay the strip on the chart, as that will soil the chart for future use.