Urinary Symptom Screener

June 18, 2019

Urology is one of the most important branches of the medical sciences. It deals with the study of the urogenital tract of human beings and treats all the problems associated with it. Our urinary system performs a set of vital functions in our bodies, like homeostasis, erythropoiesis, and the removal of toxins from the body, through a highly proficient renal system.

Urinary symptoms

Urinary symptoms are the complaints made by the patient regarding his urinary system. The patient can complain about dysuria, which means he suffers from pain during micturition. The same patient can mention burning micturition, unilateral or bilateral flank pain, bleeding during or after micturition, and the passage of sand during urination. All of these symptoms, and some others, are termed urinary symptoms.

These symptoms are helpful in the diagnosis of the problems associated with the urinary system that we possess. For example, a patient with dysuria, burning micturition, and lower abdominal pain can suffer from a urinary tract infection due to any cause. Similarly, a patient with pain in his lumbar regions or flanks can suffer from renal stones.

So, these symptoms give us a clue to the possible underlying problem in the renal system of the patient.

That is why, in hospital or urology units, we use urinary symptoms screener charts to filter the patients and treat them in a better and more meticulous way.

Urinary symptom screener

A urinary symptom screener is a form of questionnaire that is filled out while taking a history from the patient. It is used for the screening of basic as well as advanced or complex renal diseases.
The urinary symptoms mentioned in the above paragraphs may differ in intensity for different people. That is why this screener uses the system of grading to know the intensity of the pain, incontinence, or hematuria.
A urinary symptom tracker or screener needs to have the name of the patient, his age, and gender, along with his occupation.
After that, a couple of urinary symptoms are mentioned, which are elaborately asked by the doctor to determine how much the specific symptom is affecting the quality of life of the patient.
Let us begin with some of the questions and how they are supposed to be answered in a urinary symptom screener.
If a patient suffers from incomplete emptying of the bladder, he is further asked about the frequency with which the patient has suffered from incomplete emptying in the past couple of days or months. In the next column, some options are given, and the patient has to mark one of the most appropriate answers for his current situation.
Similarly, if the patient mentions that he has been suffering from urinary frequency, he also has to do the grading about how often it happened in the past month that he has to go to the washroom in less than two hours again.
The patient is asked a couple of other questions that give his physician a clue about the situation of his urinary symptoms, and this information is further elaborated and used for the correct diagnosis and treatment of the patient’s illness.