A survey of patients with head and neck malignant tumors who visited our Otorhinolarygological Department at Kanazawa University Hospital during the period from 1963 to 1971 and did not return after the initial visit was conducted.
The survey was in 3 parts, the first survey consisting of those who were seen in the period from 1963 to 1965, the second from 1966 to 1968 and the third 1969 to 1971.
The patients with malignant tumors in each period were listed, and questionnaries were sent to them concerning the reason for their failure to return, the subsequent course of their disorder, profession, income, present address and so on.
The answers were received from 76 among 146 patients. In analysing these answers, the following results were obtained:
There were more patients with tumors in the digestive tract such as oral cavity, tongue, pharynx or esophagus, than those with tumors of the respiratory tract such as the nasal and paranasal cavities or the larynx.
About forty per cent were being treated at other hospitals or clinics, while about sixty per cent died without effective treatments.
As to the reasons of their failure to return, about sixty per cent preferred to being treated at other hospitals or clinics neaer to their houses.
More than one half of the patients were living in rural or fishing districts.
More than a half of the patients had expired.
