Claim Raven explanation
What this means
This section sets severity criteria for renal dysfunction, voiding problems, urinary frequency, obstructed voiding, and urinary tract infection. Diagnostic codes elsewhere in the schedule may direct VA to one of these categories.
The condition name alone does not select every applicable category. The rule addresses the predominant dysfunction and allows separate evaluation of distinct disability when symptoms do not overlap.
How this helps your claim
This helps you identify which measurements and daily effects matter to the category VA used. Compare the record with that category rather than mixing criteria from unrelated types of dysfunction.
What to check in your records
Use your decision, examination reports, and relevant records to check the following points.
- Identify the dysfunction category referenced by your diagnostic code.
- Find the relevant laboratory, treatment, frequency, or leakage records.
- Check whether medically distinct effects were addressed without counting the same symptom twice.
Match the documented problem to the dysfunction category
Renal dysfunction, leakage, frequency, obstruction and infection describe different functional problems. A diagnosis elsewhere in the schedule may direct VA to the predominant category. Read that instruction before selecting a criterion from whichever category has the highest percentage.
Keep relevant measurements and treatment facts specific. Frequency should reflect the actual pattern, and use of absorbent materials or an appliance should be described accurately. Distinct symptoms and overlapping symptoms have different implications under the rule, so the medical description matters to both classification and combination.
Can every urinary symptom receive a separate evaluation?
Not automatically. The regulation addresses predominant dysfunction and the treatment of distinct nonoverlapping disability. Several symptoms can form one disability picture. Identify the category the diagnostic code directs VA to use and check any separate-rating question against the actual manifestations.
Official regulatory text
38 CFR § 4.115a
eCFR snapshot: September 3, 2026. Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The full section and its tables are included below.
§ 4.115a Ratings of the genitourinary system—dysfunctions.
Diseases of the genitourinary system generally result in disabilities related to renal or voiding dysfunctions, infections, or a combination of these. The following section provides descriptions of various levels of disability in each of these symptom areas. Where diagnostic codes refer the decision maker to these specific areas of dysfunction, only the predominant area of dysfunction shall be considered for rating purposes. Distinct disabilities may be evaluated separately under this section, pursuant to § 4.14, if the symptoms do not overlap. Since the areas of dysfunction described below do not cover all symptoms resulting from genitourinary diseases, specific diagnoses may include a description of symptoms assigned to that diagnosis.
Scroll sideways to see the full table.
| Rating | |
|---|---|
| Renal dysfunction: | |
| Chronic kidney disease with glomerular filtration rate (GFR) less than 15 mL/min/1.73 m 2 for at least 3 consecutive months during the past 12 months; or requiring regular routine dialysis; or eligible kidney transplant recipient | 100 |
| Chronic kidney disease with GFR from 15 to 29 mL/min/1.73 m 2 for at least 3 consecutive months during the past 12 months | 80 |
| Chronic kidney disease with GFR from 30 to 44 mL/min/1.73 m 2 for at least 3 consecutive months during the past 12 months | 60 |
| Chronic kidney disease with GFR from 45 to 59 mL/min/1.73 m 2 for at least 3 consecutive months during the past 12 months | 30 |
| GFR from 60 to 89 mL/min/1.73 m 2 and either recurrent red blood cell (RBC) casts, white blood cell (WBC) casts, or granular casts for at least 3 consecutive months during the past 12 months; or | |
| GFR from 60 to 89 mL/min/1.73 m 2 and structural kidney abnormalities (cystic, obstructive, or glomerular) for at least 3 consecutive months during the past 12 months; or | |
| GFR from 60 to 89 mL/min/1.73 m 2 and albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) ≥30 mg/g for at least 3 consecutive months during the past 12 months | 0 |
| Note: GFR, estimated GFR (eGFR), and creatinine-based approximations of GFR will be accepted for evaluation purposes under this section when determined to be appropriate and calculated by a medical professional. | |
| Voiding dysfunction: | |
| Rate particular condition as urine leakage, frequency, or obstructed voiding | |
| Continual Urine Leakage, Post Surgical Urinary Diversion, Urinary Incontinence, or Stress Incontinence: | |
| Requiring the use of an appliance or the wearing of absorbent materials which must be changed more than 4 times per day | 60 |
| Requiring the wearing of absorbent materials which must be changed 2 to 4 times per day | 40 |
| Requiring the wearing of absorbent materials which must be changed less than 2 times per day | 20 |
| Urinary frequency: | |
| Daytime voiding interval less than one hour, or; awakening to void five or more times per night | 40 |
| Daytime voiding interval between one and two hours, or; awakening to void three to four times per night | 20 |
| Daytime voiding interval between two and three hours, or; awakening to void two times per night | 10 |
| Obstructed voiding: | |
| Urinary retention requiring intermittent or continuous catheterization | 30 |
| Marked obstructive symptomatology (hesitancy, slow or weak stream, decreased force of stream) with any one or combination of the following: | |
| 1. Post void residuals greater than 150 cc. | |
| 2. Uroflowmetry; markedly diminished peak flow rate (less than 10 cc/sec). | |
| 3. Recurrent urinary tract infections secondary to obstruction. | |
| 4. Stricture disease requiring periodic dilatation every 2 to 3 months | 10 |
| Obstructive symptomatology with or without stricture disease requiring dilatation 1 to 2 times per year | 0 |
| Urinary tract infection: | |
| Poor renal function: Rate as renal dysfunction. | |
| Recurrent symptomatic infection requiring drainage by stent or nephrostomy tube; or requiring greater than 2 hospitalizations per year; or requiring continuous intensive management | 30 |
| Recurrent symptomatic infection requiring 1-2 hospitalizations per year or suppressive drug therapy lasting six months or longer | 10 |
| Recurrent symptomatic infection not requiring hospitalization, but requiring suppressive drug therapy for less than 6 months | 0 |
[59 FR 2527, Jan. 18, 1994; 59 FR 10676, Mar. 7, 1994; 86 FR 54085, Sept. 30, 2021]
Related references
- 38 CFR § 4.14: VA pyramiding and overlapping disability ratings
- 38 CFR § 4.1: What a VA disability rating measures
- 38 CFR § 3.159: VA duty to assist: records and examinations
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