Objectives

To study the epidemiologic details of urolithiasis in Seoul, Korea.

The prevalence of urolithiasis varies by different regions in the world and has been reported to be 4% to 15%. Methods.

A total of 2643 persons 40 to 79 years old living in Seoul were selected by stepwise random sampling.

Questionnaires were used and completed by trained interviewers concerning whether the subjects had experienced urinary stone disease at any time in their life.

Results

Of 2643 persons interviewed, 65 experienced 78 episodes of urinary stone formation in their lifetime.

Calibrated after the Seoul population census, the overall standardized lifetime prevalence rate was estimated to be 3.5%, 6.0% in men and 1.8% in women.

The point prevalence rate was estimated to be 0.9%, 1.9% in men and 0.3% in women.

Most of the urinary stone diseases were diagnosed at the fifth decade.

Kidney stones in family members were present in 8.1% of patients with stones and 4.1% of stone-free control individuals.

Twenty percent of the patients with stones experienced recurrences.

Conclusions

In this first systematically assessed epidemiologic survey about the rate of urolithiasis in Korea, 6.0% of Korean men and 1.8% of women are expected to experience urinary stone disease during their lifetime.