Economic impact of kidney stones in white male adults.

A large survey of patients hospitalized for kidney stones in the Carolinas and the Rocky Mountain states yielded information that can be translated into conservative estimates of cost of this disease. Hospital costs were estimated by considering number of surgeries, the approximate cost of various types of surgery, number of days hospitalized, and room rates. Work force costs were estimated from information on work days lost and income categories. Estimated recurrence rates for this disease are used to approximate the total cost, due to stones, for the next year for a current stone case. Each incident of stone disease costs, on the average, approximately $2,000, exclusive of recurrences. Hospital stays average four to five days. The average annual cost of recurrence for a current stone case is conservatively estimated to be in the $300 to $400 range. A conservative projection of these costs to the entire national population of white males in the age range of eighteen to sixty years yields an annual cost due to kidney stones approaching $315,000,000.