Urge incontinence history is an accurate predictor of urge incontinence

The reliability of urge symptoms associated with actual observed urine loss was tested using subtracted cystometry, and a hand-washing pad test in a total of 169 patients with urinary incontinence, 70 of whom had a prior history of urge incontinence. Our results showed: 1. that urodynamic or pad tests performed at a single point in time cannot retrospectively confirm a patient's past history of urge incontinence with any reliability; 2. a patient's history of urge incontinence is likely to be accurate.