Topic Overview
Keep a daily diary of all liquids taken in and all urine released, whether voluntary or involuntary. Your health professional may also call this a voiding log, bladder record, frequency-volume chart, incontinence chart, or voiding diary. The diary is usually kept for 3 to 4 days.
Record in your diary:
- The time and amount of each urination.
- The conditions under which urine release occurred, such as voluntary urination in the toilet, involuntary urine release, or leakage due to sneezing, laughing, or physical exertion.
- The amounts and types of all liquids consumed. This includes frozen liquid items such as ice cream and frozen fruit juice bars.
- Whether the liquid consumed contained caffeine (if your health professional instructs you to specify this information).
Why It Is Done
A diary is sometimes requested before you see a doctor about urinary incontinence.
You may be asked to keep a voiding log when:
- You experience the involuntary release of urine.
- No cause for the incontinence is discovered in the medical history and physical exam.
- You are not sure of the frequency and amount of urine leakage.
Results
A diary may identify the cause of your incontinence.
- If urine leakage occurs at the same time each day, several hours after taking a prescription drug, the drug may be having a
diuretic effect.
- If urine leakage occurs only during exercise or after sneezing, laughing, coughing, or similar actions, this points to stress incontinence.
See a
sample diary
(What is a
PDF document?)
.
Credits
ByHealthwise Staff
Primary Medical Reviewer
E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine
Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine
Specialist Medical Reviewer
Avery L. Seifert, MD, FACS - Urology