The patients with asthma or pulmonary emphysema who were admitted at our hospital for last 9 years (1992-2000) were examined in relation to frequency of disease, patient age, and areas where patients came.
1. Of 1271 patients (141.2 patients/year) with respiratory disease admitted for last 9 years, 808 (63.6%, 97.8 patients/year) were patients with asthma, and 157 (12.4%, 17.4 patients/year)) were those with pulmonary emphysema.
2. The frequency of patients with asthma for all patients with respiratory desease tended to decease from 82.1% in 1992 to 51.3% in 2000, while the frequency of those with pulmonary emphysema increased from 2.8% in 1992 to 24.4% in 2000.
3. The number of patients with asthma over the age of 70 years was larger in those inside Tottori prefecture, and the number of patients between the ages of 60 and 69 years was larger in those from distant areas. The age was more than 50 years in all patients with pulmonary emphysema.
4. The number of patients with asthma from distant areas (outside Tottori prefecture) was larger (456 patients; 56.4%) than the number of those inside Tottori prefecture (352 patients) for 9 years. The number of patients from Okayama, Hiroshima, Hyogo and Osaka was larger than the number from other distant areas.