METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Photos of urine samples were taken in a customized photo booth, then processed using Adobe Photoshop to index urine colour into the red, green, and blue (RGB) colour space and assigned a unique RGB value. The RGB values were then correlated with patients' clinical and laboratory hydration indices using Pearson's correlation and multiple linear regression. There were strong correlations between urine osmolality and the RGB of urine colour, with r = -0.701 (red), r = -0.741 (green), and r = -0.761 (blue) (all p-value <0.05). There were strong correlations between urine specific gravity and the RGB of urine colour, with r = -0.759 (red), r = -0.785 (green), and r = -0.820 (blue) (all p-value <0.05). The blue component had the highest correlations with urine specific gravity and urine osmolality. There were moderate correlations between RGB components and serum urea, at r = -0.338 (red), -0.329 (green), -0.360 (blue). In terms of urine biochemical parameters linked to dehydration, multiple linear regression studies showed that the green colourimetry code was predictive of urine osmolality (β coefficient -0.082, p-value <0.001) while the blue colourimetry code was predictive of urine specific gravity (β coefficient -2,946.255, p-value 0.007).
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Urine colourimetry using mobile phones was highly correlated with the hydration status of dengue patients, making it a potentially useful hydration status tool.