The frequency of urolithiasis in hospital discharge diagnoses in the United States.

In an effort to evaluate the rate of stone disease, a questionnaire was sent to each hospital in the United States. On the basis of 1765 responses it is estimated that the average rate of hospital discharge diagnoses of urinary stone per all hospital discharges was 0.0102. It was calculated that the annual incidence of urolithiasis in the population is at least 16.41 per 10,000 and that approximately 12 per cent of the population is expected to have urinary stone disease at some time in their lives.