Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

CiteULike is a free service for managing and discovering scholarly references - click here to get started.

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Biological Research For Nursing
This Article
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mentes, J. C.
Right arrow Articles by Culp, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Mentes, J. C.
Right arrow Articles by Culp, K.
Right arrowPubmed/NCBI databases
*Compound via MeSH
*Substance via MeSH
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Use of a Urine Color Chart to Monitor Hydration Status in Nursing Home Residents

Janet C. Mentes, PhD, RNCS, GNP

University of California Los Angeles School of Nursing, jmentes{at}SONNET.UCLA.EDU

Bonnie Wakefield, PhD, RN

Center for Implementation of Innovative Strategies in Practice (CRIISP), Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Iowa City, IA

Kennith Culp, PhD, RN

University of Iowa College of Nursing, Iowa City

To determine whether urine color, as measured by a color chart, might be a valid indicator of hydration status in frail nursing home residents, this study tested the associations between urine color and urine specific gravity. This is a descriptive correlational study set in seven nursing homes in eastern Iowa. Ninety-eight nursing home residents 65 years of age participated. Exclusion criteria for the study included: unstable congestive heart failure or diabetes, documented renal disease, hyponatremia (serum sodium < 135 meq/L), terminal illness, acutely confused/delirious or urinary tract infection at baseline, and gastrostomy-tube dependence. Weekly urine specimens were collected. Ucol was measured first, using a urine color chart. Usg was determined using the Chemstrip Mini UA Urine Analyzer. Week-by-week Spearman rank order correlations between urine color and specific gravity for the total sample (n = 98) ranged from rs = 0.3 - 0.7, p < .01; the PROC mixed model was significant, p < .01. In subgroup analyses (n = 78), all females (rs = 0.67, p = .01) and both males (rs = 0.53, p = .01) and females (rs = 0.72, p = .01) with adequate renal function (Cockcroft-Gault estimated creatinine clearance [CrCl] values of 50 ml/min) had significant associations between average urine color and average Usg. Females with mild renal impairment (CrCl between 30 and 50 ml/min) also had significant associations between Ucol and Usg (rs = .64, p < .01). Ucol averaged over several individual readings offers another tool in assessing hydration status in Caucasian nursing home residents with ade quate renal function measures by estimated CrCl values.

Key Words: dehydration • urine specific gravity • creatinine clearance • aged

Biological Research For Nursing, Vol. 7, No. 3, 197-203 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1099800405281607
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?