A comparison between 24-hour and 2-hour urine collection for the determination of proteinuria.

Proteinuria is one of the fundamental criteria for the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia with quantitative assessment based on the 24-hour urine protein estimation as the gold standard. This study was undertaken to determine whether a 2-hour protein estimation correlated with that of a formal 24-hour collection. Thirty women with proteinuric hypertension were recruited. There was significant correlation between the 2-hour and 24-hour urine protein levels (Pearson's correlation coefficient 0.76 (P 0.000). A positive 2-hour test was associated more closely with significant levels of 24-hour proteinuria than dipstick analysis alone. We conclude from this study that a random 2-hour sample could be used for the initial assessment of proteinuria and so avoid the delay associated with 24-hour quantification of urinary protein.