ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The study was carried out to analyse and compare the number of examinees, cancer detection rate change in the age distribution of screened women with data from the periods 1974-1983 and 1984-1993. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The target population of the study composed women participating in uterine cancer screening by automobile in Fukui prefecture over the twenty year from 1974 to 1993, divided equally into early and late periods. The examination method was smear sampling for cytology, performed by scraping the cervix with a cotton swab or wooden spatula. Patients with suspicious or positive smears underwent histological diagnosis by colposcopic biopsy. RESULTS: 1) The number of examinees was increased over 160% during the late as compared to the early periods. 2) The dysplasia detection rate increased from 0.195 to 0.27%. 3) The carcinoma detection rate, in contrast, decreased from 0.2% to 0.1%. 4) The rate of smears categorized as class III or above increased with age in the early period but was steady across the age distribution in the late period. 5) Class (IIIa) dysplasia and class (IIIb) in situ carcinoma detection rates were higher in the late than the early period. 6) The carcinoma detection rates increased with age in early period, while in the late period, those for patients under the age of 29 and over 70 years old were higher and these for other ages were lower than in the early period. 7) The carcinoma detection rate for first examinees was higher than for repeated examinees. 8) The proportion of first examinees was 65.5% among women under the age of 29 and 46.8% among women aged 30-34. 9) Carcinoma detection rates for individual public health centers (PHCs) were Fukui PHC 0.13%, Kanazu PHC 0.11%, Okuetsu PHC 0.09%, Tannan PHC 0.11%, Reinan PHC 0.04%. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed the detection rate to be higher at the first visit. The detection rates for dysplasia and carcinoma were increased in young women in the late as compared to the early period. It is important to follow up the patients with dysplasia and encourage more frequent visit by young as well as aged women.
