Epidemiological characteristics of 214,063 hospital admissions to adult urological departments in Poland in 2022.

Introduction: Nationwide data on urological hospitalizations may improve the quality of care. This study aimed to evaluate the epidemiological characteristics of all registered hospital admissions to adult urological departments in Poland in 2022. Material and methods: This epidemiological retrospective analysis is based on the national registry on hospital admissions managed by the National Institute of Public Health - National Research Institute. All adult patients admitted to urological departments were included in the analysis. Results: In 2022, 214,063 hospital admissions were recorded in Polish urological departments, 72% of the patients were male. Emergency admissions accounted for 17.6% of these admissions. There were significant differences in hospitalization rate per 100,000 population between the administrative regions (voivodeships), with extreme values recorded in the Opolskie (411.5) and Podkarpackie (987.9) voivodeships. The major causes of admission were genitourinary diseases (ICD-10: N00-N99) at 59% and cancers (ICD-10: C00-C97; D00-D48) at 36%. In general, kidney and ureteral stones (19.9%), bladder cancer (15.2%), and prostate hyperplasia (10%) were the most common causes of hospital admissions. The highest hospitalization rate per 100,000 inhabitants was observed among adults aged 60-69 and 70-79 years. A quarter of hospitalizations were one-day hospitalizations, and the mean duration of hospitalization was 2.93 days for all hospitalizations, and when excluding one-day hospitalizations 3.89 days. Epidemiological characteristics of patients and duration of hospitalization differed by cause of admission. Conclusions: Findings from this study provide precise epidemiological data on inpatient urological care in Poland. Physicians and policymakers may use this study to evaluate and improve inpatient urological care in Poland.