Single cough urethrocystometry and clinical methods in the evaluation of female incontinent patients

Abstract

The type of urinary incontinence of 71 women with the complaint was evaluated clinically, and using a new single cough urethrocystometric method. On the basis of urologic history and findings in a clinical stress test, the patients were divided into four groups (stress-incontinent, stress-continent, combined-incontinent, and urge-incontinent). They were also classified into the same four categories using single cough urethrocystometry. In 60.5% of the cases, both methods resulted in the same diagnosis, but the diagnosis was different in the remainder. Urodynamic investigation resulted in an increased frequency (56%) of stress incontinence compared with the clinical diagnosis of stress incontinence (38%). Single cough urethrocystometry also revealed that the pressure transmission ratio was smaller (P<0.005) in patients with stress incontinence (65%) and combined incontinence (68%) than in those who were continent (86%) and urgecontinent (81%). Using urine leakage in a stress test as evidence of stress urinary incontinence, the sensitivity of single cough profilometry to diagnose stress incontinence was 94%, the specificity was 51%, the predictive value of an abnormal profile was 0.64, and the predictive value of a normal profile was 0.90. The new method proved to be quick and easy to perform. It has the potential to substitute for the conventional dual microtip catheter in the evaluation of urinary incontinence of female patients.