Urinalysis

What a Urinalysis Measures

A complete urinalysis has three parts.^[1] The physical exam describes what the sample looks like: its color, its clarity, and its specific gravity, a measure of how concentrated it is.^[1] The chemical exam uses a dipstick, a plastic strip with reagent pads that change color when they react with the sample. Standard pads screen for protein, glucose (the same sugar measured in blood glucose tests), ketones (byproducts of fat metabolism), blood, leukocyte esterase (an enzyme from white blood cells), nitrites (which some bacteria produce), bilirubin and urobilinogen (breakdown products of red blood cells), plus pH and specific gravity again.^[1],[3] The microscopic exam puts a spun-down portion of the sample under magnification and describes cells, casts, crystals, and bacteria.^[3]

How It's Measured

You pee in a cup. Most urinalyses use a midstream "clean catch" sample that's examined within two hours of collection.^[3] Clinicians order the test on its own or as part of routine care, so it shows up at checkups, hospital admissions, and prenatal visits.^[2] Some markers come back as concentrations, and others as simple graded readings like "negative" or "trace" straight off the dipstick pads.

Why People Track Urinalysis Results

Two urinalysis measures relate to urine concentration. Researchers have scored urine color against a standard eight-point chart and found it correlates strongly with specific gravity and osmolality, the lab measures of how concentrated urine is, which is why the chart gets used as a simple field index of hydration.^[4] This entry describes those measures, not how to act on them.

Past the dipstick, the urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) is the quantitative follow-on for urine protein. Instead of a color change on a pad, a lab measures albumin and creatinine in the same sample and reports the ratio between them, which estimates the albumin passed into urine over 24 hours.^[5] Clinicians read it alongside blood measures like creatinine and eGFR.

A urinalysis also isn't the urine testing most cycle trackers talk about. At-home hormone strips measure hormones and their metabolites instead of general markers. See LH surge and urine hormone metabolites for that side of urine testing.

How Go Go Gaia Tracks Urinalysis Results

Go Go Gaia doesn't collect samples or run urine tests. You can upload urinalysis results from lab work you've already had done, and the app stores each marker as its own dated data point, from dipstick readings like urine protein, nitrites, and pH to quantitative values like specific gravity and UACR, about 15 urinalysis markers in all. You can also log urine color day to day on the standard eight-point chart, no lab involved.

What the Research Shows

In two lab studies and one field study, urine color scored on an eight-point chart correlated strongly with urine specific gravity and osmolality, and the authors concluded color can stand in for those measures in field settings where close estimates are acceptable.^[4]

A comprehensive clinical review describes the complete urinalysis as physical, chemical, and microscopic examinations, with a midstream clean-catch sample acceptable in most situations.^[3]

For urine albumin, the NIDDK describes a two-step pattern: a dipstick pad detects albumin through a color change, and a quantitative albumin and creatinine measurement follows to report the ratio between them.^[5]

Related Terms

Frequently Asked Questions

Educational information based on published sources. Not medical advice. For personal concerns, please consult your doctor.

Does Go Go Gaia run urinalysis tests?

No. Go Go Gaia doesn't collect samples or run labs. You upload urinalysis results from lab work ordered through a clinician, and the app stores each marker as a dated data point alongside your other tracked data. Urine color is the exception: you can log it yourself in the app on the standard eight-point chart.

How is a urinalysis different from an at-home hormone test strip?

A urinalysis screens one sample for a broad set of general markers like protein, glucose, and pH, and can add a microscopic exam. At-home hormone strips measure specific hormones and their metabolites, like LH or PdG, to track the menstrual cycle. They share a specimen type, not a purpose.

What does the urine color chart measure?

It scores urine color on an ordinal one-to-eight scale against a printed chart. Research on the chart found that color correlates strongly with urine specific gravity and osmolality, the lab measures of how concentrated urine is.