The Hospital Discharge Survey, conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (Rockville, Md.), provides national estimates for conditions causing hospitalization in short-stay hospitals in the United States. The venereal Disease Control Division of the Centers for Disease Control (Atlanta, Ga.) obtained survey data for 1970-1975 and analyzed the epidemiology of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) in women hospitalized for this disease. An average of greater than 211,000 female patients older than 10 years of age were hospitalized annually for PID. Acute salpingitis occurred predominantly in women younger than 30 years of age. Women of all races other than white had a PID rate 3.3 times greater than that of white women. Data obtained from the Commission on Professional and Hospital Activities were used for determination of the trend in hospitalizations for PID. In all races other than white, the trend appears stable; however the trend among white women is increasing.