epidemiology

Last reviewed 01/2018

Haemtauria is a common clinical finding in the primary care with a higher incidence in patients over 40 years old (1).

• prevalence of asymptomatic microscopic haematuria varies between 0.19 and 21%
• in the UK, prevalence of asymptomatic microscopic haematuria in adult male population is around 2.5%.
• this figure is thought to increase with age - up to 22% of males over 60 years of age having asymptomatic microscopic haematuria (2)
• macroscopic haematuria has been found to be the presenting symptom in  in >66% of patients with urological malignancy (3)

Reference:

• (1) Shields J, Maxwell AP. Evaluating haematuria in primary care. Pulse 2009
• (2) Rodgers M et al. Diagnostic tests and algorithms used in the investigation of haematuria: systematic reviews and economic evaluation; Health Technology Assessment 2006;10(18) 
• (3) Hicks D, Li CY. Management of macroscopic haematuria in the emergency department. Emerg Med J. 2007; 24(6): 385-390