Assessment of the diagnostic value of urine protein content in 8- and 16-hour samples with 24-hour urine protein sample in hospitalized women with pre-eclampsia in 2016

Background: High blood pressure disorders are common in pregnancy. The combination of high blood pressure and proteinuria in pregnancy, or pre-eclampsia, dramatically increases the risk of death and perinatal complications. Nevertheless, 24-hour urine protein sample is still a gold standard. This study aimed to determine and compare the diagnostic value of 8- and 16-hour urine protein samples with that of 24-hour urine protein sample. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 92 pregnant women with hypertension and gestational age greater than 20 weeks who were evaluated for proteinuria and rejection of pre-eclampsia and 92 pregnant women with gestational age greater than 20 weeks and normal blood pressure. All patients had been admitted to the women's ward of Imam Reza Hospital in Kermanshah. Three consecutive 8-hour samples were collected from each patient, and the protein was sampled at 8, 16 and 24 hours. Results: Correlation coefficient between 16- and 24-hour urine protein samples was 0.832 (the highest correlation coefficient), which showed a strong correlation between 16- and 24-hour urine protein samples. The correlation coefficients of urine protein between the first and third 8-hours were 0.621 and 0.528, respectively, which showed a moderate correlation with 24-hour urine protein. Urine protein for the first 16 hours had a high efficacy rate of 96.3% and negative predictive value of 97.5% in diagnosis of non-patient cases. However, due to the sensitivity of 82.6%, there was no definitive value in detecting abnormal cases. Conclusion: The negative result of the first 16-hour urine protein can have a significant effect on rejection of pre-eclampsia in hospitalized or outpatient patients.