Usefulness of Benedict's test for the screening of galactosemia

Benedict's test for the screening of galactosemia presents a high false-positive rate, which puts into question its usefulness. We evaluated the results of Benedict's test as screening strategy for galactosemia, and the patients' definite diagnosis in our hospital in the last 25years. We also assessed the most prevalent clinical conditions among the false-positive cases. Apart from glycosuria, many non-galactosemic newborns with heart alterations, prematurity, icterus and sepsis usually lead to false-positive results using Benedict's. No false-negative case for Benedict's test was reported in our hospital. A better approach in terms of cost-effectiveness, sensitivity and specificity is needed for an effective screening of galactosemia. •Benedict's test has a high false-positive rate, which puts into question its usefulness.•We studied the definite diagnosis of patients who had positive results on Benedict's test.•Some ongoing screening strategies for galactosemia yield a false-positive rate of 0.01%.•Up to 22% of positive results using Benedict's test are due to glycosuria.•Most heart alterations, prematurity, icterus and sepsis lead to false-positive results.