What is a Urine Test?
A urine test or urinalysis is an analysis of a sample of your urine which includes appearance and the concentration of the various substances in the sample.
Why is a Urine Test Performed?
A urine test may be performed for the following reasons:
- As part of a routine health check up
- To Identify a wide range of health conditions such as urinary tract infections, diabetes, and kidney disease.
- To monitor a health condition
- As part of a pregnancy test
- As part of a drug screening test
How is the Urine Sample Collected?
- Before undergoing a urine test you should inform your doctor of any medications, vitamins or other supplements that you take.
- You typically will be given a container to collect your urine sample.
- Start urinating into the toilet bowl and then pass the container into the urine stream.
- Finish urinating into the toilet bowl once sufficient urine has been collected in the container.
- Deliver the sample to your provider.
How is the Urine Sample Evaluated?
A urine sample may be evaluated by 3 methods:
- Visual Examination: Normal urine is usually clear. Cloudiness could be an indication of an infection. Presence of blood may make the urine appear dark.
- Dipstick Test: This test involves dipping a plastic stick with chemical strips in the urine sample. The chemical strips change color depending on the substances in the urine.
- Microscopic Examination: This teps involves viewing a few drops of concentrated urine under a microscope to look for pathogens, blood cells, or proteins that indicate the presence of disease.