One‐hour ward test vs. 24‐hour home pad weighing test in the diagnosis of urinary incontinence

Abstract

AbstractTwenty‐five women completed a 1‐hour pad‐weighing test and two consecutive 24‐hour home pad‐weighing tests in order to compare the 1‐hour test with the 48‐hour test and to evaluate the further information given by the 48‐hour test compared to the first 24‐hour test. The correlation between the results of the 1‐hour test and the results of the 24‐ and 48‐hour tests was low (r = 0.35 in both). The patients classified as incontinent in the 1‐hour test also had significant leakage in the 48‐hour test. The 1‐hour test had a false‐negative rate of 36% if the 48‐hour test is considered the absolute standard. The correlation between the leakage during the first 24‐hour test and the 48‐hour test was high (r = 0.96), but two patients had insignificant leakage during the first 24‐hour test and significant leakage during the 48‐hour test. The 1‐hour test is usable as a quick test in the ward, but only the demonstration of significant incontinence is reliable. The 24‐hour test predicts the state of incontinence quite precisely; however, the results seem to improve slightly by extending the test period to 48 hours.