Urine tests are often taken to perform a diagnosis, provide confirmation of a disease or rule out the existence of a disease.
A urine test can be taken in different ways, depending on what is being checked. The urine sample is often provided during or immediately after your meeting with your care provider. Sometimes it is necessary to return on another occasion, for example if your care provider wants a sample of your morning urine or a collection of your urine. Patients with diabetes or renal disease may need to provide urine samples regularly, to check the effectiveness of their treatment.
For the target group
Providing a urine sample could be difficult if you find it difficult to hold the container in which the sample is to be collected. To make the process easier, you can ask your care provider if you can take the sampling kit home and bring back the sample the following day.
Helpful tips
The easiest way to collect a urine sample at home could be to urinate into a larger container and then pour part of the urine from that container into the test tube that is to be submitted to the clinic. For example, it could be a good idea to stand in the shower/bath and urinate into a bowl. It is important to ensure that the container you urinate into has been well cleaned beforehand.
To ensure that your sample is as pure as possible, you should first urinate a small initial amount of urine outside of the container, then redirect the urine stream so that the rest of the urine is collected in the container.
Bear in mind that a urine sample should be stored in a cold location (i.e. in the fridge) before it is submitted to the clinic.
Medication
Certain pharmaceuticals are diuretics, which means that they may cause you to urinate more often. If it is difficult for you to use the toilet, ask your care provider whether there is an alternative form of medication that does not have this side effect.