Comparison of different methods for quantification of urinary leakage in incontinent women

To evaluate different methods for assessment of diagnosis and severity of urinary incontinence, 72 women underwent two consecutive 24 hours pad tests, a 1 hour pad test, a stress test, urodynamic examination, and a voiding‐cysto‐urethrography. The results were analysed and related to clinical findings. The 24 hours pad test revealed a good patient compliance, was as informative as to grade of incontinence as a 48 hours test, was reliable for all grades and types of incontinence, and correlated to clinical findings. The 1 hour pad test underestimated the grade of incontinence and was less correlated to clinical parameters than the 24 hours test. To estimate a level for pathological leakage, 25 continent controls underwent a 24 hours pad test. The results of the pad tests could be stratified by mean leakage per 24 hours as follows: up to 5 g in continent women, 40 g in mild incontinence, 80 g in moderate incontinence, and 200 g in severe incontinence. It could be concluded that a 24 hours home test was the pad test of choice for quantification and diagnosis of urinary incontinence.