PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine the predictive factors that are associated with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) due to intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD) in women. METHODS: Between January 2008 and December 2009, 185 women with urodynamically proven SUI were included in this study and retrospectively reviewed the medical record. Preoperative SUI symptoms were classified by Stamey grade. Valsalva leak point pressure (VLPP) determination series was repeated two times in each subject after finishing one series of VLPP measurement. The patients were classified into three groups according to VLPP; 1) ISD: VLPP< or =60 cm H2O, 2) equivocal: 6090 cm H2O. Chi-square test and multivariate (logistic regression test) analyses were performed to determine the factors associated with ISD. RESULTS: The mean patient age was 54.2 years (range, 44.5 to 68.4 years). Seventy-one women (38.3%) were in the ISD group and 70 (37.8%) in the AI group. The results of univariate and multivariate analyses found that women with ISD had a higher symptom grade than women with AI (P=0.001 and 0.0001, respectively). The number of patients in the ISD and AI group in accordance with the symptom grade were 7 (10%) and 44 (62%) in grade I, 50 (54%) and 23 (25%) in grade II, and 14 (63%) and 3 (14%) in grade III respectively. There was no correlation between VLPP and other clinical factors. CONCLUSIONS: High symptom grade was the only independent clinical factor that predicted the presence of ISD. This should be considered when counseling the patients with SUI.