Monthly Variations in Urolithiasis Presentations and Their Association with Meteorologic Factors in New York City

Publication Date

2014

Journal Title

Journal of Endourology

Abstract

Introduction: Nephrolithiasis in the United States has been on the rise during the past several decades. Temperature has been shown to directly correlate with increased stone disease. We examine the association between climactic factors and monthly urolithiasis presentation rates for 6 years at a single institution in New York City. Methods: Emergency department (ED) data on patient visitations were collected along with patient demographics. Meteorological data were collected using the website "Weather Underground" (www.wunderground.com). Average monthly temperature, dew point, precipitation, and sea level pressure were obtained and relative humidity was calculated using the dew point. Monthly urolithiasis visitations and the correlation of atmospheric factors were analyzed using an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model. Results: The total number of renal colic visits to the hospital's ED from January 2007 through December 2012 tallied 3647 visits. The lowest average monthly rate per 1000 ED visits occurred in the month of February (28.8) and the highest in the month of August (43.8). There was a strong correlation between monthly presentation rate and temperature (P

Volume Number

28

Issue Number

5

Pages

599-604

Document Type

Article

Status

Northwell Researcher

Facility

Northwell Health

Primary Department

Urology

PMID

24372422

DOI

10.1089/end.2013.0680

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