Home collection of urine for culture from infants by three methods: survey of parents' preferences and bacterial contamination rates

Urinary tract infection is common in childhood. Infants are most likely to scar and often have non-specific symptoms. Because of practical difficulties with collecting urine, samples are often not obtained.1 Most samples are collected by parents,2 yet nobody has sought parents' views on available methods. We assessed contamination rates and parents' opinions of three common methods used at home. Parents of children aged 1 to 18 months volunteered to collect urine at home by pads,bags, and clean catch in a randomised order, on one day. The study had ethics committee approval. Demonstrations and instruction sheets were given. Parents washed their hands before each procedure and the child's perineum before each collection. Pads (Newcastle sterile urine collection packs, Ontex UK, Corby) were placed inside the nappy and checked every 10 minutes until wet (but not soiled), then urine aspirated …