The prevalence of definite cases of Menière's disease in the Hida and Nishikubiki districts of central Japan: a survey of relatively isolated areas of medical care.

In order to evaluate the prevalence of definite cases of Menière's disease (MD), we performed a 1-year survey in 1994 of patients in the Hida and Nishikubiki districts, where a majority of the patients are thought to seek treatment at the medical facilities within these areas for geographical reasons. As a result of the cooperation of all ENT departments of the general hospitals and ENT clinics (general practitioners) in these districts, 67 patients were diagnosed as definite cases of MD according to the diagnostic criteria proposed by The Menière's Disease Research Committee of Japan. Annual prevalence was estimated at 36.6 per 100,000 population in the Hida district and at 21.4 per 100,000 population in the Nishikubiki district, which is higher than those reported in previous Japanese surveys.