[Characteristics of medical institutions visited by patients with intractable diseases--analyses of patients receiving financial aid for treatment].

The Research Committee of Epidemiology of Intractable Diseases (Ministry of Health and Welfare, Japan) conducted a nationwide survey of 34 intractable diseases. Each of 47 prefectural governments reported information on all patients with the diseases who received financial aid for the disease from April 1992 to March 1993. Information collected on each patient included the identification number, sex, age, the code of the municipality where the patient lived, and the medical institution and department where the patient was being treated. Out of 247, 726 patients whose information was reported by prefectural governments, we analysed data of 208,945 patients whose medical institutions were reported. The results can be summarized as follows: 1) Aged patients and children who were less than ten years old tended to visit medical institutions located in their neighborhoods and be treated in small hospitals or clinics. 2) The proportion of patients who visited hospitals with 200 beds or more was 77 percent. 3) Patients with the diseases resulting in physical disabilities such as SMON and malignant rheumatoid arthritis tended to visit clinics. Patients with skin diseases as pemphigus, epidermolysis bullosa and pustular psoriasis tended to be treated in university hospitals. 4) Many patients living in prefectures near large cities such as Tokyo and Ishikawa visited medical institutions in the large cities. 5) The proportion of patients who visited university hospitals decreased during the eight years from 1984 to 1992. However, a quarter of these patients visited university hospitals.