Is the Zimnitsky Urine Test used in the West at all? What tests are used instead?

Question

The Zimnitsky Urine Test (Проба по Зимницкому) is a test used in Russia to assess the kidneys' capacity for concentration of urine.

Here's one English-language description (choose "select all" because some of the text is the same color with the background). Here's another English-language description.

The patient's urine is collected over a period of 24 hours in 8 different containers (one container for each 3-hour period), and then the samples from each of the containers are passed to the testing facility, along with the info on the amount of urine passed during each of these 3-hour periods, and the amount of liquid consumed over the day. As I understand, specific gravity is calculated for each period.

Is it used at all in the West? In Wikipedia, only the Russian-language article exists for this kind of test. Why is that so?

I recall that it was quite a chore to collect urine in these 8 jars when I was in a hospital with diabetes. Maybe some other test(s) are used instead of it in the West?

P.S. It is still used in Russia. I don't think it's used for blood sugar assessment, I think it's more for the assessment of kidney function. I don't know much about kidney function or its assessment, and a doctor recently advised me to take this test because my urine had an extremely low specific gravity, so I started reading up. I wanted to read up on this in English, because there's usually more in-depth info on tests and their interpretation in English, but to my amazement I only found information in Russian, so I asked this question here.

Answer 1

So far, I could not find evidence that the Zimnitsky test is applied in exactly the same way in western countries.

The urine specific gravity is a parameter that is assessed during urine analysis. This can be measured from a single urine sample as well as from a 24-hour urine collection.

If I understood your sources regarding the Zimnitsky test correctly, it basically also tests urine for its specific gravity over a time period of 24 hours. However, the difference is that during Zimnitsky test eight (to twelve) individual samples are tested, not a collection.

Answer 2

For diabetes, it is important to control glucose levels. This can easily be done (to a varying degree of accuracy) by checking the urine for glucose.

Urine tests were once the main type of testing used to measure glucose levels in people who potentially had diabetes. However, they are less common now that blood tests have become more accurate and easier to use.

^{Healthline.com}

Nowadays, blood sugar is simply determined by a blood test (and a lab isn't even needed, glucose meters can measure on the spot), and so the extensive urine test is no longer required. Speaking from my limited experience, blood tests were performed every 3 hours (which is incidentally the same period you described for the Zimnitsky Test).

Now, urine tests are also performed if kidney failures/diseases are suspected, but I have to double-check how often. I doubt that it was on a daily basis, let alone a 3-hour basis.