We examined the positivity of hepatitis B surface (HBs) antigen, hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody, human T-lymphotropic virus type- I (HTLV) antibody, and Treponema pallidum(TP) antibody by performing serological tests in 1446 inpatients who underwent surgery at our hospital. All patients had interviews with us before operation about their medical history and the possibility of being infected with blood-transmissible pathogens. After the interviews, we took a blood sample from the subjects and examined HBs antigen, HCV antibody, HTLV antibody, and TP antibody. Only 9 of 27 HBs antigen-positive persons, 17 of 40 HCVantibody-positive persons, and 1 HTLV carrier reported that they may have been infected with the pathogens. The overall prevalence of positivity for HBs antigen, HCV antibody, HTLVantibody, and TP antibody were 1.9%, 2.8%, 0.1%, and 1.3%, respectively. Our results indicate that the reliability of patient reports is limited and strongly suggest that cliniciansshould take strict measures to prevent the spread of blood-transmissible infections regardless of what patients report.