We investigated, for the consecutive two years of 1964 and 1965, into the incidence and the percentage of hospitalization, etc. of cases of mental diseases in one city and four towns under the jurisdiction of the Fukuyama Health Center in Hiroshima Prefecture, including Fukuyama-shi Kannabe-cho Kamo-cho, Nnmakuma-cho and Utsumi-cho (total population of 219, 781 as of October 1, 1945). The results of sludy are as summarized below:
1) The reported cases-reported through the established procedure of flling and information, examined cases and hospitalized cases were, respectively, 72 cases, 62 cases and 58 cases (93.5%) in 1964, and 86 cases, 83 cases and 76 cases (90.6%) in 1965. The frequency of such reporting in 1965 was highest in May and July.
2) The total cases of mental diseases treated in hospitals during the years 1950 324 or 1.47 percent of the total population.
3) Of these 324 cases, schizophrenic cases held a majority of 252 cases (77.7%), and those that ranked second were alcoholic psychoses and senile psychoses both numbering 14 cases (4.3%).
4) The analysis of such 324 in-patients by age resulted in: 90 cases (27.7%) in the 25-34 age bracket, 83 cases (25.6%) in the 35-44 age bracket and only 1 cases under 14 years of age.
5) The classiflcation of the same cases by the sources of sustenance indicated: 115 cases (35.4%) sustained under Article 29 of the Mental Hygiene Law, 107 cases (33.0%) assisted under the Livelihood Protection Law, 37 cases (11.4%) paid under the National Health Insurance Law, 60 cases (18.5%) under the Health Insurance Law and 5 cases (1.5%) sustained from other sources.
6) Of these 234, the number of cases hospitalized with the public fund under the application of Article 29 of the Mental Hygiene Law and the Livelihood Protection Law was 222, the 126 cases (56.7%) of which were unmarried.And 94 (87.8%) of the 107 patients paid under the Livelihood Protection Law were also the heads of the households.
7) According to the survey conducted as of March 31, 1966, out of such 324 patients 72 cases (22.2%) were discharged within 3 years of hospitalization, and 83 cases (25.6%) had been hospitalized already more than 5 years.
8) According to the 1964 survey, the capacity of mental hospitals per 100, 000 population was 168.3 in Hiroshima Prefecture as a whole, but 127.8 within the jurisdiction of the Fukuyama Health Center, considerably short of the need.

Objective: Two types of symbols have been established as industry standards in terms of two-dimensional (2D) symbols with prescription information: one for objects to be printed on prescriptions and the other for electronic versions of medication diaries. However, no studies have investigated the system for using 2D symbols in pharmacies and hospitals/clinics as well as the quality of the information actually stored in these 2D symbols. Therefore, we conducted a survey to clarify the current status and problems pertaining to prescription information sharing via 2D symbols.Methods: We distributed questionnaires to community pharmacies through the Fukui Pharmaceutical Association and asked them to cooperate with us during the survey. The list of items in the survey　included the installation status of devices necessary for reading 2D symbols at each pharmacy, receipt computer in use, and status of the support issued by hospitals/clinics for reading 2D symbols. At the same time, we received 2D symbols created by community pharmacies and conducted reading tests to examine issues related to the collection of prescription information via 2D symbols at medical institutions.Results: The response rate for the survey was 21.8%. Among the 57 stores that responded to the survey, 26 (45.6%) answered that they could read prescription symbols, and 22 of them had actually used the system till date. In addition, 38 community pharmacies were able to provide the 2D symbols for medication diaries. Of the 30 provided symbols for medication diaries, 16 (53.3%) could be read as Japanese data by the barcode reader used.Conclusions: It has become clear that the 2D symbols with stored prescription information are not being completely utilized at present, as both community pharmacies and hospitals/clinics face several issues such as hardware maintenance, software updates, and time and effort required for the usage.