JAMA Network Open

Risk calculator aids UTI evaluation in young children

March 17, 2026

A prospective multicenter study of 2,561 febrile children aged 2 to 24 months presenting to Canadian pediatric emergency departments found that UTICalc v3.0 demonstrated strong diagnostic accuracy for predicting urinary tract infection. The clinical UTICalc model showed good discrimination (AUROC*, 84%), with high sensitivity at low risk thresholds. Among the cohort, 4% had confirmed UTI. Adding dipstick results further improved performance (AUROC, 95%; 94% sensitivity and 87% specificity at a 5% risk threshold). Tool performance was comparable to experienced clinician judgment and showed positive net benefit across risk thresholds.

Clinical takeaway: UTICalc, particularly when paired with dipstick data, may serve as an evidence-based adjunct to guide urine testing decisions and support more selective evaluation in febrile infants.

*AUROC: area under receiver operating characteristic curve.

Source:

Kinlin C, et al; Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC) Network. (2026, March 2). JAMA Netw Open. Diagnosing Urinary Tract Infection in Young Febrile Children in the Emergency Department. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41823964/