This is a review of the results of mass screenings for early detection of stomach diseases conducted during the past 10 years from 1971 to 1980 and similar disease prevention schemes undertaken by 25 prefectures in 1980. The materials we used are the statistics presented at the 1981 general meeting of the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine and the 1979 and 1980 survey findings on mass screenings prepared by the Japanese Society of Adult Disease Prevention.
1. The number of people who receivea group stomach examination during a year increased from 128, 169 in 1971 to 274, 905 in 1980.
2. Of the total number of persons who underwent stomach checkups during 1980, 16.0% were urged to get intensive medical examination.
3. Those who actually got intensive exams accounted for 76.3% of those tho were required to receive such exams. This ratio varies greatly from 27.0% to 92.9% according to prefectures.
4. Stomach cancer was found in 255 people. This represents 0.093% of the total number of the examinees and includes 113 persons with early gastric cancer (44.1% of the total stomach cancer cases). Among other diseases detected in the mass screenings are gastro-polyp (1, 151 cases, 0.42%), gastric ulcers (2, 301 cases, 0.84%) and duodenal ulcers (1, 285 cases, 0.47%). Altogether, 13, 730 or 4.99% of the total number of the examinees were found that they have ailments.
5. The methods employed in mass screening, intensive medical examination, procedures after examination and follow-up study differ from prefecture to prefecture.
So it is difficult to obtain the exact picture of health conditions of rural inhabitants from the data we used.