Abstract
The clinical records of outpatients treated at the Department of Otolaryngology, University of Tsukuba Hospital, during the period from January 2002 to December 2011 were reviewed. The outpatient office attendance, total number of outpatients and the number of new outpatients increased by 1.45-fold, 1.24-fold and 1.31-fold, respectively, over the 10-year period. Analysis for the age distribution of the new outpatients indicated a higher mean age of the new outpatients. The gender distribution was almost even (male: female=1.08: 1). The geographic distribution of the referring doctors was analyzed. Most referred patients came from the south and west areas of Ibaraki prefecture, while there were some patients referred from other areas of Ibaraki prefecture or even outside Ibaraki prefecture. The number of otolaryngologists in Ibaraki prefecture is lower than the average for Japan. Furthermore, the distribution of otolaryngologists in Ibaraki prefecture was also revealed to be inhomogeneous. Our department at the University of Tsukuba Hospital is a keystone regional otolaryngology unit in Ibaraki prefecture.
