ArticleCureus2025
Rapid Cerebrospinal Fluid Dipstick Testing for Early Diagnosis of Acute Bacterial Meningitis in Children: A Prospective Observational Study in Nepal.
Article in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction Acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) is a life-threatening emergency requiring prompt diagnosis and treatment. In resource-limited settings, rapid and reliable diagnostic methods are essential. This study evaluates the diagnostic accuracy of a urinary reagent dipstick test applied to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples in children suspected of having ABM. Methods A prospective observational study was conducted at Kanti Children's Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal, from February 2019 to April 2021. Children aged between three months and 14 years undergoing lumbar puncture for suspected meningitis were included. CSF samples were tested using Combur-10 (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany) urinary dipsticks for leukocytes and protein and compared to standard laboratory analyses. Diagnostic accuracy was measured using sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and Cohen's kappa coefficient. Results Seventy-six children were enrolled, with a median age of 4.5 years, and 48 (63%) participants were males. Laboratory analysis identified ABM in 21 cases (28%) based on the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for probable bacterial meningitis. Dipstick testing diagnosed 26 cases (34.2%). The dipstick demonstrated a sensitivity of 95% (95% CI: 78.4% - 99.3%) and a specificity of 89% (95% CI: 77.8% - 95.1%). The positive predictive value (PPV) was 77% (95% CI: 57.5% - 89.4%), the negative predictive value (NPV) was 98% (95% CI: 87.3% - 99.8%), and the overall diagnostic accuracy was 91% (95% CI: 81.2% - 96%). Agreement between dipstick and conventional methods was statistically significant (Cohen's kappa = 0.785, p = 0.001). Conclusions Rapid dipstick testing of CSF is a reliable, cost-effective tool for early ABM diagnosis in children. It is particularly useful in settings lacking advanced laboratory infrastructure.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.