Detection of voluntary dehydration in paediatric populations using non-invasive point-of-care saliva and urine testing

Nur Faidah; Gita V Soraya; Michael Erlichster; Rosdiana Natzir; Gursharan Chana; Efstratios Skafidas; Marhaen Hardjo; Idham J Ganda; Burhanuddin Bahar

doi:10.1111/jpc.15325

Detection of voluntary dehydration in paediatric populations using non-invasive point-of-care saliva and urine testing

J Paediatr Child Health. 2021 Jun;57(6):813-818. doi: 10.1111/jpc.15325. Epub 2020 Dec 29.

Authors

Nur Faidah^{1

2}, Gita V Soraya^{2

3}, Michael Erlichster⁴, Rosdiana Natzir^{2

3}, Gursharan Chana^{4

5}, Efstratios Skafidas^{4

6}, Marhaen Hardjo^{2

3}, Idham J Ganda⁷, Burhanuddin Bahar⁸

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Muhammadiyah University, Makassar, Indonesia.
² Department of Biomedicine, Graduate School Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia.
³ Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia.
⁴ MX3 Diagnostics Inc., Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁵ Department of Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁶ Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Melbourne School of Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁷ Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia.
⁸ Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Public Health, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia.

PMID: 33373495
DOI: 10.1111/jpc.15325

Abstract

Aim: Voluntary dehydration, or lack of fluid intake despite water availability, is common in otherwise healthy children, and can lead to adverse effects. Most dehydration biomarkers are impractical for routine assessment in paediatric populations. This study aimed to assess two non-invasive hydration assessment tools, urine specific gravity (U_SG ) and a novel point-of-care (POC) salivary osmolarity (SOSM) sensor, in healthy children.

Methods: Volunteers were tested by colorimetric U_SG and a handheld SOSM system. Observed values were compared against previous studies to determine hydration status, as was the concordance between parameters.

Results: At the common U_SG threshold of 1.020, 42.4% of the 139 healthy children were dehydrated. The same prevalence was found using the 70-mOSM cut-off value. Comparative analysis of SOSM at varying U_SG thresholds demonstrated significantly higher SOSM in dehydrated children with a U_SG ≥ 1.030 (P = 0.002).

Conclusion: At the U_SG threshold of 1.020 and SOSM threshold of 70 mOSM, 42.4% of healthy children were found to be voluntarily dehydrated. Significantly higher SOSM was observed in dehydrated children (U_SG ≥ 1.030). As the first study on the utility of POC SOSM measurements for detecting dehydration, these results provide a foundation for future POC characterisation of SOSM in other populations and clinical contexts.

Keywords: point-of-care; salivary osmolarity; urine specific gravity; voluntary dehydration.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child
Dehydration* / diagnosis
Humans
Osmolar Concentration
Point-of-Care Systems
Saliva*
Urinalysis
Urine

Grants and funding

MX3 Diagnostics Inc