Home Health Center Incontinence   Incontinence - Diagnosis

Diagnosis of Incontinence



The first step towards diagnosing the type of urinary incontinence is to visit a urologist who will consider all factors, such as the pattern of urine leakage, medical history and any other symptoms that the person may be experiencing.

Some common tests to diagnose urinary incontinence are:

  • Maintaining a Bladder Diary: To determine the pattern and the root cause of the incontinence the doctor will require the individual to maintain a bladder diary wherein the person would be required to maintain a record of the amount of liquid consumed, the number of incontinence episodes, the quantity of urine produced and so on.
  • Urinalysis: In this test for urine incontinence, a sample of the urine is sent to the laboratory to check for any possible signs of abnormalities, traces of blood or an infection.
  • Blood Test: The blood test will enable the doctor to check for the presence of any substances or chemicals that may be responsible for the urinary incontinence.
  • There are also certain specialized tests that the person may have to undergo such as Postvoid residual (PVR) measurement, pelvic ultrasound, stress test, Urodynamic testing, Cystogram, Cystoscopy.

Signs & Symptoms
Treatments
Frequently asked questions
References
  1. Jacques Corcos, Sylvie Beaulieu, Jenny Donovan, Michelle Naughton, Momokazu Gotoh, MEMBERS of the SYMPTOM QUALITY OF LIFE ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONSULTATION ON INCONTINENCE*, Quality of Life Assessment in Men and Women With Urinary Incontinence, The Journal of Urology, Volume 168, Issue 3, September 2002, Pages 896-905, ISSN 0022-5347, 10.1016/S0022-5347(05)64540-5.
  2. Geoffrey W. Cundiff, Robert L. Harris, Kimberly W. Coates, Richard C. Bump, Clinical predictors of urinary incontinence in women, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Volume 177, Issue 2, August 1997, Pages 262-267, ISSN 0002-9378, 10.1016/S0002-9378(97)70185-6.
  3. Felix W. Leung, John F. Schnelle, Urinary and Fecal Incontinence in Nursing Home Residents, Gastroenterology Clinics of North America, Volume 37, Issue 3, September 2008, Pages 697-707, ISSN 0889-8553, 10.1016/j.gtc.2008.06.005.