Abstract
A descriptive epidemiological study on systemic scleroderma in Gifu prefecture was undertaken in 1986 and 1990, based on application forms for financial aid in patients with intractable diseases. In 1986, information on a total of 102 patients, including 13 males and 89 females was obtained with a total prevalence rate of 4.9 per 100,000. In 1990, information on a total of 197 patients, including 18 males and 179 females was obtained with a total prevalence rate of 11.7 per 100,000. The ratio of males to females was about 1:7∼10, and agewise most of the patients were in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. Regarding the main subjective symptoms, the rate of pigmentation decreased in 1990 compared to that of 1986. The first symptom to appear in patients was Raynaud’s phenomenon and was noticed in both males and females during the survey. The positive rate of anti-nuclear-antibody among the patients ranged from 68.9∼83.3%, and this value increased in 1990. When the analysis was confined to new applicants, it was noticed that many years had often passed since the initial diagnosis of systemic scleroderma, and many of patients were not even notified until more than 5 years after the first symptoms had appeared.
