• 827,950 operations were performed in Scottish hospitals in 1996/97, a 4 per cent increase from the previous year. (Table 2B2)

• The three most common conditions recorded at GP consultations for all patients aged over 15 years are upper respiratory tract infections, depression and back problems. Depression and anxiety conditions taken together have the highest consultation rate. (Chart 2C1)

• Over 480,600 cervical smear tests were carried out in 1997, an increase of 3,000 from the previous year. (Table 2C3)

• Almost one third of the residents aged 65 and over in private nursing homes in 1997 were classified, by the home, in the dementia client group at time of admission. (Table 2C6)

• Notifications of food poisoning have almost doubled in the last 10 years. This increase may reflect improved or changed reporting rather than increased incidence alone. (Chart 2D2)

• Lung cancer was the most frequently diagnosed cancer in males in Scotland during 1995 (23.2 per cent of all cancers diagnosed, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer). (Chart 2D3)

• In 1994, 30 per cent of adults aged 16 and over in Scotland were cigarette smokers compared with 34 per cent in 1992; this continues the decline in cigarette smoking recorded in the General Household Survey since 1974. (Chart 2D4)