As part of the outreach program of the Welfare Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives in Kumamoto Prefecture, ultrasonographic examinations for abdominal diseases were carried out in rural communities from the beginning of April 1986 to the end of March 1994. A total of 119, 172 people went through the abdomen checkup during the period. In this study, we reviewed the results of the examinations with respect to the followings.
The percentage of those examinees who were found to have some impairment increased from a range of 40% to upwards 50% during the period under review. Those who were told to receive followup examinations accounted for as high as 10% of the total initially, but the percentage dropped to 2. 9%. The percentage of those actually underwent followup examinations once fell to a range of 70%, but later rose to 85%. The rate of detection of malignancies went up steadily from 0. 08 to 0. 12% year by year.
To decrease the percentage of the patients having to receive followup examinations and to increase the malignancy detection ratio, it was deemed necessary to improve echographers' skills, and establish a nost-examination care/guidance system.