2008 Volume 35 Issue 2 Pages 268-274
The national program of health examination about the population of 40 to 74 years of age is supposed to be altered largely from 2008, focusing on metabolic syndrome. The circumference of the waist and body mass index (BMI) is measured in the first step of screening. If the value of these measurements is less than the criteria, subjects are excluded from the subsequent health guidance program, even if they have hypertension, diabetes mellitus or dyslipidemia. Using our data of 2006, we investigated the prevalence of those diseases among the subjects who were excluded from the health guidance program in the first step of screening.
In 7, 859 subjects who received the screening, 2, 784 subjects were selected for health guidance program (target subjects) . On the other hand, 5, 075 subjects were excluded from the program (excluded subjects), being 64.6% of the examinee. In the excluded subjects, 2, 030 subjects without treatment were diagnosed as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia or the combination of these diseases (subjects with disease), being 40.0% of the excluded subjects. The same prevalence was 38.7% in the target subjects. Moderate to severe hypertension, definite diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia with moderate risk were defined according to the criteria of each scientific society (subjects with definite disease) . Prevalence of total subjects with definite disease was 21.4% in the excluded subjects, and 53.6% in the subjects with disease. Incidence of smokers in the male subjects with disease were higher than men in the target subjects (p < 0.005) .
Our data suggest that not a few subjects with hypertension, diabetes mellitus or dyslipidemia exist in the subjects who are excluded from the health guidance program in the newly starting health examination system, and some countermeasures should be taken to deal with the subjects with these diseases.
