Pre-eclampsia is defined as new-onset hypertension after 20 weeks of pregnancy with proteinuria or other maternal organ dysfunction (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 2019). According to the most recent MBRRACE report, pre-eclampsia accounted for three per cent of overall maternal mortality rates for the period 2016-2018 (Knight et al 2022). Urinalysis is a key routine screening and diagnostic tool for pre-eclampsia during the antenatal period (Tucker et al 2018). Urine samples provided by women during antenatal appointments, and subjected to dipstick analysis, are a low-cost useful screening tool for proteinuria for women at risk of pre-eclampsia (Correa et al 2017). In this article, the evidence surrounding the use of reagent strips will be examined, including the accuracy of such test methods, appropriate methods of analysis and the circumstances in which they should, and should not, be used. The evidence relating to the use of laboratory-based quantitative diagnostic testing will also be discussed.
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