An epidemiologic study of renal failure. II. Acute renal failure.

A total community study of acute renal failure (ARF) was carried out in Israel. The mean annual incidence was 4.8/100,000, the risk being 50% higher in males than in females. It was found that ARF is due primarily to a multiplicity of factors and rarely to a single cause; the high mortality associated with ARF is related to the patient's basic underlying condition. The epidemiology of ARF results from a compilation of the various conditions leading to it, and would, therefore, vary according to the differential distributions of these conditions in the population.