[Can the diagnosis "stress incontinence" be reliably made even without urodynamic clarification?]

Anamnestic data and gynaecological findings of 1036 incontinent women without previous incontinence surgery were examined with the aim in mind to safely establish a diagnosis of stress incontinence. The information given by 234 women (initial group), whose answers were recorded on two different questionnaires, were compared with those of 802 women (control group). By one single information, namely, that urine can be retained for more than three hours, it is possible to predict stress incontinence with an accuracy of 85% in 46% of all incontinent women of the starting group. In a sub-group defined by three data (40% of all women) stress incontinence can be assumed with an accuracy of 90%. As a result, the indication for incontinence surgery in 40% of all examined women could be made with an error rate of 10% only, compared with 26% in the starting group.