# Routine admission urinalysis has low clinical utility in psychiatric hospitalizations

## TL;DR

Routine urinalysis during psychiatric hospitalizations rarely detects urinary tract infections and often leads to unnecessary antibiotic use.

## Contribution

This study quantifies the low clinical value and high rate of inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions from routine admission urinalysis in psychiatric settings.

## Key findings

- Admission urinalyses identified urinary tract infections in only 1.7% of psychiatric patients.
- 71.3% of antibiotic prescriptions based on urinalysis results were inappropriate.
- Inappropriate prescriptions were more common in older patients, females, those with positive cultures, and specific psychiatric diagnoses.

## Abstract

We examined the diagnostic utility of urinalyses (UAs) in psychiatric admissions. Admission UAs led to diagnosis of clinical urinary tract infections in 1.7% of cases. Among those treated with antibiotics, inappropriate prescriptions occurred in 71.3% of cases, with increased odds in older age, female sex, positive cultures, and certain psychiatric diagnoses.