When one goes to get their yearly physical and have to pee in a cup, what exactly are they testing for?

can the doctors tell if you've been using non-prescription drugs? are they allowed to test for that without informing the patient(under 18)

They are testing for blood in the urine, sugar in the urine, bacteria in the urine and the pH level of the urine.

They should not be testing for anything else without your permission. Don't be afraid to ask them.

You sound as if you are intelligent enough to know better than to use drugs for recreation. I certainly hope so.

they're testing you for all that glue-sniffing you've been doing behind the gym...

they are testing for diabetes

Yes, they can.

Well..it kinda depends if you're male or female.
Obviously they won't do a pregnancy test in a male.
But they also test for urinary tract infections, drugs, STDs, diabetes etc.

Aim/accuracy Just kidding, but seriously you'd think they could get a wider cup...

they are checking your ketones..which is how much sugar you have in your urine..

they are testing your eye sight by seeing if you can hit the cup

They typically will test for things such as diabetes, kidney infections, urinary tract infections, bladder infections (all of which you should notice signs and symptoms of, but they check for anyway).

And yes, they can check for the other drugs. I don't know if your Dr's office does or not, but they do not have to inform you that they are testing for them.

yes, they can tell, and physicals usually are for diabetes, or if your okay in a healthy way.

You can tell alot about the health of your body, not only by examining what you HAVE inside you, but also by what you are EXPELLING. In other words, if there are unexpected things in your urine (i.e. blood cells, sugar, etc...) they are signs of problems. Your body would be "throwing out" things it would normally keep.

Too much sugar, protein or blood in the urine can mean other physical ailments.

it depends on what you went there for.but usually a lot of things like blood type,infections,drugs,sugar,there a few things they check you for.bladder infection,yeast infection.and yes dr's can tell what your taking but they usually tell you what they are looking for yes.

kathy

They're testing for any number of things:
Pregnancy
Diabetes
Drugs
Kidney problems
Many other kinds of things show up in the urine to help the Dr make a diagnosis of a healthy or unhealthy body.

Usually they test for blood, protein, and sugar in your urine. You must sign a consent in most states for a drug screen of any kind.

They usually ask for a particular panel; blood in the urine, high white blood cell content and so on. Yes, being as you are under 18, it is probably a requirement, depending on what you are getting the physical for. It is up to your parents as to whether or not you should be tested for anything but there are standards for your health that they need to check in your urine. You would be surprised what diseases can show up in your urine and save your life as a result. Good question!!

they will just use a stick test that is a little stick that will change colour IE: if you have say to much glucose and other non normal things in your urine just making sure you kidneys are working fine I don't thing it will tell the Dr if you using non prescription drugs I would not worry to much. If they find something out of the norm they will then have you wee in another cup and send it off to pathology for further investigating they should do the stick test in front of you. they will have a small jar and just match the colour up on the chart that is on the back of the jar.

Wikipedia:

A typical medical urinalysis usually includes:

a description of color and appearance
specific gravity
pH
glucose
ketones
protein
RBC number
WBC number
The hormone hCG: Pregnancy may be checked for by screening a woman's urine for this. Home testing Pregnancy tests have been developed for this purpose.
Pyroluria
[edit]
Microscopic examination
The numbers and types of cells and/or debris present can yield a great detail of information and may suggest a specific diagnosis.

eosinophiluria - associated with allergic interstitial nephritis, atheroembolic disease
RBC casts - associated with glomerulonephritis, vasculitis, malignant hypertension
WBC casts - associated with acute interstitial nephritis, exudative glomerulonephritis, severe pyelonephritis
(heme) granular casts - associated with acute tubular necrosis
crystalluria -- associated with acute urate nephropathy (or "Acute uric acid nephropathy", AUAN)
calcium oxalate - associated with ethylene glycol toxicity
[edit]
Forensic urine drug screening
Drug testing uses urinalysis to test for certain chemicals which are typically present in the urine only after recreational drug use. These tests must be requested specifically or as part of a toxicology screen, and are not part of a routine urinalysis. Such tests are sometimes even requested for employment reasons, whereby a certain organization seeks to avoid hiring people using certain drugs, either for safety reasons (as in the case when a person is employed to operate dangerous machinery) or for legal and public relations reasons, as several common types of drug use are officially forbidden in much of the world. This controversial practice is not always legal and an employer can legally not discriminate against someone solely on the basis that he refuses a drug test. More often, these tests are performed at the behest of the legal system--by a police or probation officer, by court order, or as part of a court-ordered drug treatment program. The legality of these drug tests has been questioned in the United States under the Fifth Amendment.

Ethical and moral concerns have been raised concerning the propriety of forbidding individuals to use recreational drugs in their free time, when not actually working, by testing for any drug use at all within a long time frame (the hair may be tested for drug residue that is months or years old); and for opening the possibility of other tests (such as a pregnancy test) being performed without the person's knowledge or consent.

Sports teams frequently check for barred muscle-building drugs such as anabolic steroids via urinalysis, and various schools and parents have drug tested their children to check for illegal drug use, particularly marijuana smoking in teenagers. This has lead to concerns over the civil rights of the people tested, quite often in circumstances where a refusal to provide a sample will lead to a presumption that the test would have proved positive. This denies the test subjects' their right to avoid self-incrimination and in many cases in school, their right to education as the refusal to provide a sample can lead to exclusion and expulsion from school.

"U.A." is sometimes used as a shorthand way of referring to urinalysis, especially among people who have to take the test frequently, such as participants in a drug treatment program.

Can they tell? Sure, if they test for it. Can they test? Sure. Do they have to tell? Not usually, since the parent has already signed authorization for the testing for their minor child.

If you want to know more, why not ask the doctor?

A regular urinalysis test consists of several chemical analysis such as pH, specific gravity, ketones, protein, glucose, bilirubin, blood, urobilinogen, leukocyte esterase and nitrites. They do not perform a drug screen unless there is a specific reason. However, some high school sports programs may request this particular test because they require all participants to be drug free. A drug screen usually detects drugs of abuse like heroin, morphine, THC, cocaine, PCP, meth, etc.

yes, they can tell if you've been using non-prescribed drugs.
*and why do i have this feeling that you're nervous about this... kidding!*
as far as i know, they're not aloowed to take the test without informing the patient because first of all, they get their sample from the patient and it is the patient who had to pee in the cup and not them.