What does your urine dipstick results mean?

During the metabolic process, substances no longer needed by your body excrete out through your urine. This also helps regulate your body’s water balance.

With a simple Do-It-Yourself (DIY) urine dipstick test, you can identify the current status of your health.

It’s a test kit that checks the appearance, concentration, and content of your urine. These measurements will be used to detect and manage a wide range of medical disorders, such as urinary tract infections (UTI’s), kidney disease, and diabetes.

Usually, the urine dipstick is a thin plastic stick with clear coloured strips. These strips contain chemicals that will react to your urine. Once the dipstick is dipped into your urine, the chemical strips will change colour accordingly to:

• the presence of certain substances in your urine and/or
• if certain substances’ in your urine are above or below normal levels

The urine dipstick will detect compounds such as proteins, glucose, ketones, haemoglobin, and nitrites.

Make sure you have enough to drink the night before. In the morning, with a full bladder, do the following:

1. Pass a small amount of urine into the toilet.
2. Midway through urination, pee onto the dipstick.
3. Remove the dipstick and see the colour change on it.

The colour chart below is for general reference. Please note that DIY or home-use urine dipsticks are NOT intended for:

• self-diagnosis purposes
• does not replace microscopic or urine culture examinations and should only be used in consultation with your doctor.

Please consult your doctor for a professional assessment of your dipstick test results.

If you’re interested in learning more, read more about what each part of the dipstick test means.