Gastric cancer overall did not show this temporal trend (OR 1.10; 95 % CI 0.98, 1.21; P = 0.056), but in patients under 60 years of age there was a trend, with increasing detection rates per decade (OR 1.21; 95 % CI 1.03, 1.43; P = 0.02). This trend was not apparent in patients under 45 years of age. In patients of 60 years of age or more the frequency of diagnosis of gastric cancer appears to have declined by 15 % per decade (P = 0.03).