Clinitek Status Specific Gravity

If your pH is >or = 6.5 the SG is automatically adjusted for pH by the instrument.  

Limitations listed in the package insert for the Siemens 10SG also state that SG test is dependent of ions in the urine and results may differ from those obtained with other SG methods when certain nonionic urine constituents, such as glucose, are present. Highly buffered alkaline urines may cause low readings my cause low readings, while the presence of moderate quantities of protein may cause elevated readings. 

The inside joke is, using biochemical test strips, specific gravity is not that specific.  I emphasize to nurses and providers, if how well a patient is concentrating urine in their kidneys is of concern, to have the urine SG tested using a refractometer - which is the gold standard for that measurment.

We've been seeing this issue as well.  Are there any refractometers that anyone is happy with?  Our pediatric oncology patients need a quick, accurate SG to monitor chemo.  All the handheld refractometers are moderate complexity, right? 

Our peds onc is trained to do a visual read on the strip if the pH is >/= 6.5. We have a dot phrase especially for them which allows them to record that values in the chart since they base their chemotherapy on the SG.

The Atago correlates well to the Refractometer and the results are digitally displayed.