Oral cancer screening as an integral part of general health screening in Tokoname City, Japan

Objectives-To measure the attendance and compliance rates in oral mucosal s creening (OMS) offered as part of a general health screen (GHS) undertaken as an organised programme in Japan. Methods-In 1996, all adults over the age of 40 years resident in Tokoname C ity were invited by letter to attend a free GHS annually, conducted by the municipal cooperation and the medical and dental societies of Tokoname City . In the later years only chose who attended in 1996 were reinvited. Female s aged less than 39 years were also allowed to attend if they wished to par ticipate in the GHS. The GHS consisted of completion of a self administered questionnaire to identify past and current illnesses and any medications u sed by the screened population coupled with a routine physical check, chest x ray, ECG, and blood and urine examination. The GHS was programmed annual ly during the years 1996 to 1998. All those attending the GHS were invited to participate in an OIMS conducted under the same roof by a visiting denti st (n=37). A referral pathway was established for screen positives requirin g follow up. Results-A total of 19 305 subjects (5955 males, 13 350 females; mean age 59 .2 years; 7033 in 1996, 6289 in 1997, and 5983 in 1998) attended the GHS. O f those who attended the GHS, 19 056 (98.7%) attended the OMS (1.3% refused ). This rate was fairly constant over the three years. Excluding repeat exa minations, new cases recruited for OMS over the three years were 8723. Of t hose participating in OMS, 4269 (60.7%) attended all three years. In the co horts examined, screening dentists recorded oral mucosal lesions in 5.4% in 1996, in 4.0% in 1997, and in 2.6% in 1998. Overall, this amounted to a po sitive detection rate of 4.1%, or 4.9% excluding repeat examinations. A hig her prevalence of oral pre-cancer was recorded among male smokers. Conclusions-The overall results suggest that although compliance with atten ding a free GHS was low (26.2%) among Japanese subjects over 40 years of ag e, of those who complied 74-76% reattended annually. Hence a satisfactory p articipation rate can be obtained in Japan for OMS when this is coupled to a GHS conducted at the same visit.