Epidemiology

Some information about the epidemiology of renal stones is presented below (1,2,3):

• overall prevalence of urinary calculi is:
  • assuming a life expectancy of 81 years, the lifeime prevalence equals approximately 13.0% (2,3) - patients treated solely in the community are not included in this estimate (2,3)
  • urolithiasis is a common disease and has been becoming more prevalent in the Western world in recent years - however, this trend seems to be slowing down in England since 2010 (3)
  • Wilcox et al state that the "incidence of kidney stone disease (urolithiasis) has a lifetime risk of 10–15%, and a recurrence rate of 50% within 10 years" (4)
    
    
• males are affected more than females - 2.5:1
  
  
• bimodal age distribution - peak incidences in mid-20's and mid-50's, the later peak principally due to infective stones in women
  
  
• upper tract calculi predominate in developed countries
  
  
• bladder calculi are more common in developing countries
  
  
• stones are unilateral in approximately 80% of cases
  
  
• across the population right and left upper tracts are equally affected
  
  
• incidence of upper tract calculi is increasing (2,3)
  • number of upper urinary tract (UUT) stone hospital episodes increased by 63% to 83,050 in the 10-year period 2000/2001 to 2009/2010
  • total number of UUT stone hospital episodes increased slightly from 83 050 in 2009-2010 to 86 742 in 2014-2015 (4.4% increase).

Reference:

• NICE (December 2018).Renal and ureteric stones: assessment and management (NG118)
• Turney BW et al. Trends in urological stone disease.BJU Int. 2012 Apr;109(7):1082-7
• Heers S. Turney BW. Trends in urological stone disease: a 5-year update of hospital episode statistics.BJU Int. 2016 Nov;118(5):785-789
• Wilcox CR et al. Kidney stone disease: an update on its management in primary care. BJGP 2020; 70: 205–206.