24-hour home pad weighing test versus 1-hour ward test in the assessment of mild stress incontinence.

Twenty-three normal volunteers and 31 women admitted for stress or mixed incontinence underwent two 24-hour home pad weighing tests. In the patients the test result was compared with the result obtained with the 1-hour ward pad weighing test. Median pad weight gain was 4 g/24-h, with an upper 99% limit of 8 g/24 h in normal women. The median urine loss was 17 g/24-h in the patients. Eighteen (58%) patients were classified as incontinent according to the result of the 1-h ward test, versus 28 (90%) according to the result of the 24-h home test. There was no significant correlation between the result of the 1-h test and the 24-h test. In the patients, test-retest analysis showed a significant variation in the result of the 24-h test. It is concluded that the better of two 24-h home tests is more sensitive for confirmation incontinence than is one 1-h ward test. Consequently, the 24-h home test is of practical use as a screening test for incontinence. The reproducibility of the test, however, seems insufficiently satisfactory to allow of its use in comparative scientific studies.