Using 9,036 physicians who registered to Korean Medical association in 1972, the incidence and experience rates for appendectomy were- observed by cohort, approach for the last 50 years. It was assumed that the physician population was a group which received most comp-lete and accurate diagnosis than any other groups in Korea.
Data were collected applying the postal survey methods. The response rate was 70.6%. Data were analyzed by age, sex, year of birth and by calendar year, and various rates such as experience rates, incidence rates and cumulative incidence rates were computed to see the incidence patterns and risks of the appendectomy.
15.0% of male and 21.0% of female had experiences of appendectomy previously. The appendectomy incidence were highest in ages between 25-30 in male and 30^35 in female. In general, the incidence rates were higher in female. The risk of having appendectomy for the entire population was 1.8% at the age 20, 10.8% at 35 and 18.4% at 55.
The appendectomy rates were getting higher among younger groups and the incidence rates showed marked increase particularly after 1950.
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