Epidemiological Characteristics of Renal Colic and Climate-Related Causes in a Continental Area in Spain

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence of renal colic (RC) in a northwestern area of Spain and its relationship with seasonal and meteorological characteristics. Materials and Methods: We examined 700,257 cases that presented at the emergency room (ER) between 2005 and 2013. We reviewed data such as age, gender, arrival at ER, tests performed and destination after ER. Monthly data regarding temperature, humidity and hours of daylight were taken into account. The Student t-test, the Mann-Whitney test and the Chi-square test were used for the statistical analysis. RC visits were correlated with meteorological characteristics using the Pearson correlation coefficients. Results: A total of 9,330 cases were diagnosed as RC episodes (1.41% of total cases presented). The age range was 14-100 years and mean age was 47 years. Prevalence in men was higher (55.6%) than in women (44.4%). After the seasonal decomposition analysis by month, a significant increase in RC incidence was observed in the months of June, July, August and December (107-114%). There is a statistically significant correlation between mean monthly temperature and RC visit rate (R 0.33, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The incidence of RC in our region is slightly higher than the one described in the literature. A significant increase in RCs is observed in the summer months, as well as a significant correlation between incidence and temperature.

The impact of ambient temperature on the incidence of urolithiasis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…However, in addition to mean monthly temperature, other temperature parameters may be related to the incidence of urolithiasis. Both Cepeda Delgado's and Lin's studies revealed that the monthly maximum, average, and minimum temperature were all linearly related to the risk of urolithiasis (21,25,34). Daily data were also used in several studies, and Cervellin et al found a significant association between the mean number of cases of renal colic per day and the mean daily temperature (positive association, r=0.93; P<0.0001) (35,36).…”

“…Only 24 articles were eligible under the full-text assessment (figure 1). Of these, 9 studies directly investigated the impact of ambient temperature on urolithiasis using RR (7-9, 14-19), 12 time-series studies evaluated the linear correlation between mean monthly temperature and incidence of urolithiasis (5,(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30), and 6 time-series studies estimated the increased RR as mean daily temperature increased to evaluate the non-linear association (28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33).…”