title: [Climate and epidemiological characteristics of renal colic attendances in an urban setting in Spain].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To address the real incidence of RC episodes in our setting and its relationship with several epidemiological, seasonal and climatic factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed 156,687 attendances in the emergency unit of Hospital Infanta Cristina (Parla, Madrid, Spain), from the opening of the unit in 07/04/2008 to the date of analysis (28/03/2010). Date of birth, sex, history of previous urinary lithiasis episodes, main cause and date of attendance were collected. Daily climate parameters (maximum daily temperature and percent relative humidity) were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total number of 1,866 RC episodes (1.19% of all attendances) were recorded during the study period. Age ranged from 15 to 94 years, median 39. RC episodes were more prevalent in male population (58.4% vs 41.6% in females respectively, p<0.001). No differences were observed with regard to previous history of RC. A modest but significant rise in RC incidence was observed during summer and autumn. No significant correlation was observed between monthly or seasonal number of RC attendances and the climatic parameters studied.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  RC incidence in our setting is similar to the previously reported in the literature. A modest but significant higher incidence of renal colic episodes were observed during summer and autumn seasons, although no significant relationship was attributed to temperature and humidity values. Absence of dramatic seasonal changes in incidence can be explained by the "non-extreme" weather conditions in the studied setting.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Urología, Hospital Infanta Cristina, Parla, Madrid, España. mlujang@salud.madrid.org
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Luján
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Turo
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pascual
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chiva
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martín
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Torres
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002980:Climate; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056844:Renal Colic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012621:Seasons; D013030:Spain; D014504:Urban Health; D055815:Young Adult