Stress incontinence diagnosed without multichannel urodynamic studies

To determine if the clinical diagnosis of stress urinary incontinence made on the basis of simple criteria correlates with the diagnosis of genuine stress incontinence as determined by provocative multichannel urodynamic testing.

The charts of 652 women who presented for clinical evaluation of a variety of lower urinary tract complaints were reviewed if they met all of the following criteria: 1) a predominant complaint of stress incontinence, 2) positive cough stress-test results, 3) postvoid residual urine volume no more than 50 mL, 4) a functional bladder capacity of at least 400 mL as determined by a completed 24-hour frequency-volume chart, and 5) a full multichannel urodynamic evaluation. Seventy-four patients met all these criteria. The clinical diagnosis of stress incontinence was based on the presence of factors 1-4; this diagnosis then was compared with the results of provocative multichannel urodynamic testing.

Genuine stress incontinence was confirmed in 72 (97%) of 74 patients meeting the aforementioned clinical criteria. In one patient, detrusor instability alone was demonstrated during urodynamic testing. In 11 patients with genuine stress incontinence (15%), an element of detrusor instability was also present at the time of urodynamic testing. One patient had normal urodynamic study findings, with no incontinence demonstrated.

Rigorously defined clinical criteria are highly reliable in predicting the presence of genuine stress incontinence at the time of urodynamic testing. Because of the potential implications of this finding for clinical practice, further investigation is warranted.