An evaluation of NicCheck I: a dipstick method for analyzing nicotine and its metabolites.

This study examined the reliability of a test strip for assessing urinary nicotine and its metabolites. Urine samples from smokers were tested by two independent raters using the NicCheck I test strips. Each rater compared the test strip color to a five-color chart. Correlations between the rater's codings and between the coding and other measures of nicotine consumption were examined. Significant correlations were found between the two independent ratings of the test strip color and between the codings and other measures of nicotine consumption. This preliminary evaluation suggests that NicCheck I is sensitive to differences in nicotine consumption.