Résumé
This study was conducted in July-August, 1984, to define the causes of chronic gastrointestinal symptoms in rural population and to provide data for the management of such patients. A household survey was conducted to identify all the residents of Youngchun and Sungju counties in Kyungpook province who were over 20 years of age, had chronic upper gastrointestinal symptoms for over the last 6 months, never had medical examination for the symptoms, and volunteered to participate in the gastroscopic examination. Gastroscopy was done for 106 males and 108 females. Gastric ulcer was found in 16.8% of all the examinees, duodenal ulcer in 15.4%, gastritis in 14.0%, and gastric cancer in 3.7%. No lesion was found by gastroscopy in 52.3%. Gastric ulcer more common in male(26.4%) than in female(7.4%) (p<0.01) and the same was true for duodenal ulcer(20.8% of male, 10.2% of female). Gastric cancer was found in 7.5% of the male while none of the female had gastric cancer. A higher proportion of the female(68.5%) showed normal finding in the gastroscopy than the male(35.9%) (p<0.01). No significant association was found between the upper gastrointestinal symptoms and the gastroscopic findings. The higher prevalence rate of gastric ulcer than that of duodenal ulcer in this study which is the reverse of the study findings of urban area in Korea and western countries may be related in part with the dietary habit and social environment of the rural population. Although early diagnosis is the most important for the treatment of gastric cancer, many of the people with chronic upper gastrointestinal complaints defer the diagnosis and treatment. It is may be due to lack of the knowledge of disease and the health care attitude of the rural people. A national program for the health education and mass screening for the gastric cancer should be developed.