title: An analysis of rapid pad testing and the history for the diagnosis of stress incontinence.
abstract: Two rapid exercise pad tests, the vitamin B test, and the methylene blue test, are introduced for the diagnosis of urinary stress incontinence. The vitamin B test is entirely non-invasive, takes only a few minutes to perform, and is especially useful as an office test. The methylene blue test has fewer variables, and fits easily into a urodynamic routine. With the methylene blue test, a direct correlation was noted between amount of urine lost and pressure generated by the tests. This conforms to the definition of stress incontinence as a passive process. The sensitivity of the test in a group with mainly mixed symptoms was 89.5%, and the specificity 100%. The test is useful where objective diagnosis of stress incontinence is important. A group of 38 patients with a history (questionnaire) of stress incontinence exhibited a total of 105 positive individual symptoms out of a possible 228 symptoms (6 x 38), comprising a history of leaking at sneezing, coughing, exercise, laughing, walking, or bending. The individual symptoms were analyzed for accuracy and predictability by comparing them with six graded provocative exercises comprising a trampoline test, star jumps, coughing, stepping, bending and hand washing. The symptoms were graded into a hierarchy from the results. A history of stress incontinence was found to be an accurate determinant of stress incontinence, even in patients with mixed symptoms. This allows the questionnaire as presented to be used as a semiquantitative index for assessment purposes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, Royal Perth Hospital, Western Australia.
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Papa Petros
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ulmsten
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008751:Methylene Blue; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012256:Riboflavin; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D008751:Methylene Blue; D012256:Riboflavin