A urinalysis is a common urine test that's done for several reasons:
- To check your overall health. Your doctor may recommend a urinalysis as part of a routine medical exam, pregnancy check-up, pre-surgery preparation or when you are admitted to hospital. This is to screen for a range of conditions, such as diabetes, kidney disease, liver disease and bladder cancer.
- To diagnose a medical condition. Your doctor may suggest a urinalysis if you're having symptoms such as abdominal (tummy) pain, back pain, peeing often or having pain when you pee, blood in your pee or other urinary problems. A urinalysis may help diagnose the cause of these symptoms.
- To monitor a medical condition. If you've been diagnosed with a medical condition, such as kidney disease or a urinary tract disease, your doctor may recommend a urinalysis on a regular basis to monitor your condition and treatment.
Other tests, such as pregnancy testing and drug screenings, also may rely on a urine sample, but these tests look for substances that aren't included in a typical urinalysis. For example, pregnancy testing measures specific hormones and drug screenings detect specific drugs.