Objective: To analyze hospitalization rate for musculoskeletal diseases in the Silesia region in 1999-2003. To compare the current analysis with the former study for Poland from 1980-1993. Methods: Data on all patients who were hospitalized with musculoskeletal system and connective tissue diseases in the Silesia region were abstracted from the National Institute of Hygiene database. Musculoskeletal diseases were defined using International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (XIII chapter, codes: M00-M99). Results: Median age of hospitalized men was 48 years and of women 54. Hospitalization for diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue accounted for 4.4% of overall male hospitalization and 5.1% of female hospitalization. The rate of hospitalization for musculoskeletal diseases in the Silesia region has not significantly changed during the study period (1999-2003). The mean rate was: 63 per 10 000 population for men and 90 per 10 000 population for women. Compared with the analysis from 1980-1993 (study refers to entire Poland) the rate of hospitalization for musculoskeletal diseases increased from 35 to 63 per 10 000 population for men and from 40 to 90 per 10 000 population for women. Frequency of hospitalization for inflammatory and non-inflammatory joint diseases has slightly decreased, while frequency of hospitalization for soft tissue rheumatism has slightly increased. Conclusion: Continuous monitoring of hospitalization rate for musculoskeletal diseases in Poland seems to be important to properly assess needs of health services because of the increase of this rate observed in the available data.