Dehydration: Tests
Assessment: Skin Turgor
When someone is dehydrated their skin turgor is decreased, which means that when the skin of the forearm is pinched, it remains tented for 20 to 30 seconds. If there is no dehydration present, the skin of the forearm will quickly resume its original shape. Usually the areas that are used for skin turgor testing are the sternum, abdomen, and anterior forearm. In elderly patients, skin turgor may not be a good test to see if there is dehydration. This is due to the loss of tissue elasticity that occurs with the normal aging process.
Urinalysis: Specific Gravity
A urine gravity test measures the concentration of solutes in the urine. It measures the urine density versus the density of water to tell how well the kidneys are able to concentrate urine. In dehydration there is not a lot of water to help dilute the solutes that are being removed from the cells thus increasing the specific gravity of urine. Any lab value over 1.030 constitutes a high specific urine gravity and may indicate dehydration.