Pitt Pediatrics congratulates Katie Forster, MD, MS, FAAP for her recent publication in Pediatrics, titled “Accuracy of Urinalysis for UTI in Spina Bifida.” Forster is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in our Paul C. Gaffney Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine. This significant research is the first publication from Forster’s K08 award. 
Co-authors on this article from the University of Pittsburgh include Rachel Miller, PhD, (Epidemiology), Asumi Gibeau, BS, (Medicine), and Nader Shaikh, MD, MPH (General Academic Pediatrics).
In this article, Forster aimed to evaluate the accuracy of urinalysis (UA) in diagnosing urinary tract infections (UTIs) among children with spina bifida. While UTIs are common in this pediatric population, they are generally overdiagnosed. And in order to avoid over-prescribing antibiotics to children, increased diagnostic accuracy is essential.
To address this issue, Forster and her research team looked at retrospective data from two centers from 2016-2021. Narrowing criteria to children under the age of 19 with UA and urine culture with symptomatic UTI, researchers used statistical models to calculate data across 974 encounters from 319 unique children.
Ultimately, findings indicated that while UA has moderate sensitivity for this population, its diagnostic accuracy is relatively poor. These results therefore imply a need for more accurate diagnostic tests for UTIs, especially among these children.
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