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The benefit of a 24 hours urine sample is that it can help your doctor to diagnose your condition or monitor treatment you are having. Because the urine we produce varies throughout the day and night, the differences are ‘averaged out’ by collecting all urine over 24 hours, so we can get a more reliable result than a single urine sample for some tests.

There are no specific risks to collecting a 24 hour urine sample other than some tests require a small amount of acid in the bottle to preserve the sample. Please ensure that if this is the case, which you will have been made aware of, you do not rinse it out or spill it.

In a very few cases the test may need to be repeated. This could be due to technical reasons, or because the results are not clear or the instructions have not been followed carefully.

There are no alternative tests that will give your doctor the information they need to monitor your treatment or make a diagnosis.

You will have been given a special instruction sheet specific to the tests required on your sample. Before you begin to collect your urine sample please check to see if your test has any special requirements.

Do not start your collection on a Friday or Saturday as you will not be able to return the sample once the collection is complete.

You should have been given a large plastic container to collect your sample in.