[Mass radiography. The "pros and cons" of a classic method of preventive medicine (author's transl)].

The relation of expense to benefit of mass radiography (RRU) can no longer be referred to the tuberculosis discovery rate. Far more frequently other thoracic diseases are detected, e.g. tumors, cardiovascular diseases, pneumoconiosis, sarcoidosis, etc. The prerequisite and therefore the immediate objective is the limitation to the defined and detectable group of risks so as to increase the detection rate. In combination with other prophylactic investigations the benefit of RRU can still be increased -- it provides a valuable insight into the epidemiology of different social diseases.