When the doubt of an early pregnancy sets in, the reflex is the same for many people: buy a urine test at the nearest pharmacy. But between the test with colored strips and the electronic test, the choice is not always informed.
What differentiates the electronic urine pregnancy test from the first price test? Does the presence of electronic components make it more reliable?
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How does an electronic pregnancy test work?
Those expecting cutting-edge technology may be disappointed: no, no computer analyzes the composition of the urine simultaneously. And for the more imaginative, no little man in blue overalls dips a pH paper strip into a drop of pee…
In fact, the electronic urine pregnancy test is just a classic urine test, that is to say with colored strips, to which a battery, photo sensors, and LEDs have been added to analyze the results (essentially, to determine if there is one or two lines on the strip) and display on a small screen the famous “pregnant” or “not pregnant.” That’s it, close the curtains.
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The person tweeting under the nickname Foone had fun dismantling a test to understand how it works (and even managed to play Doom on it). And it’s quite interesting, even if technology classes suddenly seem far, far away.
So, turning it over, we have a battery on the left, an IC, and a long strip of paper. pic.twitter.com/enhne5ckny
— foone (@Foone) September 4, 2020
The only thing that really differentiates an electronic test from a conventional test is the visibility of the result. With the electronic test, there’s no need to use a magnifying glass (good news for those with visual impairments) or reread the instructions three times to determine if you are pregnant or not; it is written right there, like Port-Salut!
But if it is less ambiguous than its older sibling, it is also much more expensive: about €10 compared to a few euros for the version with colored stripes. A guarantee of greater reliability?
Is the electronic test more reliable than the test with colored strips?
But is all this technology necessarily synonymous with more reliability? Not really.
Urine pregnancy tests, whether electronic or colored, are reliable at 98 or 99% (depending on the model) from the first day of menstruation. Before this date, it is possible that the test does not detect the hCG hormone in the urine, which increases the risk of false negatives.
This is the same for both types of tests, and electronic models are no less capable of displaying a “pregnant stage” on their screen when a pregnancy has indeed begun. As long as they are not used too early, they are just as reliable as conventional tests, neither more nor less.
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How to be sure of your pregnancy test result?
Whichever test you choose, to be sure of the result, it is best to wait for the alleged first day of menstruation to pee on the plastic stick, rather than rushing to the bathroom at the first symptom (sore breasts, bleeding gums, intense fatigue, etc.). Morning urine is also preferred, as it is more concentrated in the hCG hormone.
If the latter is positive, then we can go to a medical testing laboratory (with or without a prescription) to do a blood test, which will help assess the approximate start date of the pregnancy. If it is negative but doubt remains, it is entirely possible to take another test a few days later.
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Another proof that paying more for a product that seems better is not necessarily required. Especially since in the case of urine pregnancy tests, two are often bought: one to find out, and a second to confirm the result.
Tag: explanation about the pregnancy test