Free Urinalysis & CLIA-Waived Tests Practice Questions

1. The MA is performing quality control on a CLIA-waived urine pregnancy test kit. The positive control shows negative and the negative control shows negative. What should the MA do?

• Do not use the kit; document the QC failure, remove the kit from use, and notify the supervisor
• Repeat the QC test with a new positive control only
• Use the kit for patient testing since the negative control passed
• Continue testing patients and repeat QC at the end of the shift

2. A urine specimen has a specific gravity of 1.035 and appears dark amber. The dipstick is negative for all chemical tests. The MA should recognize that:

• The specimen is highly concentrated, likely due to dehydration; negative chemical results do not exclude pathology and the provider should correlate clinically
• The high specific gravity invalidates all dipstick results and the test must be repeated with a diluted specimen
• Dark amber urine always indicates liver disease regardless of dipstick results
• The results are completely normal and no further action is needed

3. A medical assistant runs a quality control sample on a glucose meter and the result falls outside the acceptable range (beyond +/- 2 standard deviations on the Levey-Jennings chart). What should the MA do FIRST?

• Repeat the control with a new control sample and troubleshoot if it fails again before testing any patient specimens
• Test patient specimens immediately and note the QC failure in the log
• Adjust the glucose meter calibration manually to bring the control into range
• Disregard the result because a single outlier is not significant

4. When performing a CLIA-waived rapid strep test, the MA obtains a negative result but the patient has a fever of 102°F, tonsillar exudates, and tender anterior cervical lymphadenopathy. The MA should:

• Collect a second throat swab for backup culture per office protocol, as rapid strep tests have a significant false-negative rate
• Report the negative result and discharge the patient with no follow-up needed
• Repeat the rapid test immediately using the same swab
• Administer antibiotics empirically based on the clinical presentation

5. During microscopic examination of a urine sediment, the presence of white blood cell (WBC) casts indicates:

• Pyelonephritis — infection or inflammation originating in the kidney tubules
• A lower urinary tract infection limited to the bladder
• Normal findings in a concentrated specimen
• Nephrolithiasis (kidney stones) blocking the ureter