Maximum bladder volume as surrogate screening test for detrusor overactivity

Maximum bladder volume could be a simple surrogate measure to screen for detrusor overactivity (DO) which manifests with a frequency and small volume voids. Urodynamic traces from 577 women were reviewed. Maximum bladder volume was obtained from bladder diary. The urodynamic traces were reviewed for data and were categorised as normal, urodynamic stress incontinence, mixed incontinence and DO. The urodynamic data and maximum voided volume were compared between different categories and Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed. The median value for maximum-voided volume for women with DO was not significantly different from the other categories, whereas significant differences were found for the median values for urodynamic variables. ROC curves demonstrated extremely poor sensitivity and specificity for recorded maximum bladder volume and for urodynamic variables. The maximum-voided volume recorded on a three-day bladder diary is not discriminatory as a screening test for DO.