The purpose of this study was to select the manageable diseases which are prevalent in Korea for periodic health examinations and to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of periodic health examination in detecting these diseases.
The data was derived from reimbursement data of the Korea Medical Insurance Corporation over a two year period (April 15, 1986 to April 14, 1988) and interviews with Yonsei Medical School professors. This study demonstrated that:
1. The manageable diseases which were selected for periodic health examinations are pulmonary tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, diabetes mellitus, syphilis groups, essential hypertension, renal disease groups, and iron deficiency anemia.
2. The sensitivity of the health screening for each disease was as follows: pulmonary tuberculosis 51.5%, viral hepatitis 60.3%, diabetes mellitus 64.7%, syphilis groups 63.3%, essential hypertension 49.9%, renal disease groups 44.0%, and iron deficiency anemia 80.9%.
We conclude that peiodic health esaminations should focus on the manageable diseases that we have defined. The number of items in periodic health screening tests and hospital quality control should be increased for the diseases with a demonstrated low sensitivity.
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