Free
E-newsletter
Subscribe to Housecall
Our weekly general interest
e-newsletter keeps you up to date
on a wide variety of health topics.
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
What you can expect
By Mayo Clinic staffYou need to provide a urine sample for urinalysis. Depending on your situation, you may collect the sample at home or at your doctor's office. Your doctor will provide a container for the urine sample. You may be asked to collect the sample first thing in the morning because at that time your urine is more concentrated, and abnormal results may be more obvious.
To obtain the most accurate results, the sample may need to be collected midstream, using a clean-catch method. This method involves the following steps:
- Cleanse the urinary opening. Women should spread their labia and clean from front to back. Men should wipe the tip of the penis.
- Begin to urinate into the toilet.
- Stop urinating briefly.
- Urinate at least 2 ounces (about 59 milliliters) into the collection container.
- Finish urinating into the toilet.
- Deliver the sample as directed by your doctor.
- If you can't deliver the sample to the designated area within 30 minutes of collection, refrigerate the sample, unless you've been instructed otherwise by your doctor.
In some cases, your doctor may insert a thin, flexible tube (catheter) through the urinary tract opening and into the bladder to collect the urine sample.
The urine sample is sent to a lab for analysis. You can return to your usual activities immediately.
- What you need to know about urinalysis. National Kidney Foundation. www.kidney.org. Accessed Dec. 5, 2010.
- Wu X. Urinalysis: A review of methods and procedures. Critical Care Nursing Clinics of North America. 2010;22(1):121.
- Echeverry G, et al. Introduction to urinalysis: Historical perspectives and clinical application. Methods in Molecular Biology. 2010;641:1.
- Ferri FF. Laboratory Tests and Interpretation of Results. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2011: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2011. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..C2009-0-38600-6--TOP&isbn=978-0-323-05610-6&about=true&uniqId=230100505-53. Accessed Dec. 10, 2010.
- Meng MV, et al. Urologic Disorders. In: McPhee SJ, et al. Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment 2011. 50th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2011. http://www.accessmedicine.com/resourceTOC.aspx?resourceID=1. Accessed Dec. 10, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on