Cystometric urine stream interruption test in women with urodynamic stress incontinence

Urine stream interruption test (UST) is one of the subjective means of assessing pelvic floor muscle strength. This is done with the belief that most women with stress urinary incontinence cannot interrupt the flow of urine stream due to weak pelvic floor muscles. It is also used by some to monitor pelvic floor muscle strength following treatment. Our study looked at a cohort of 104 women with stress urinary incontinence and to our knowledge, our study is the first to use UST in women who have had their stress urine incontinence confirmed on urodynamics. We found that 87% of those with urodynamic stress incontinence (USI) were able to perform this test (UST). We therefore concluded that UST is a poor index of pelvic floor muscle function in women with USI and cannot be relied upon to monitor success of treatment in these women.