COMPARABILITY IN INTERNATIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGY

Abstract

This is a report of selected papers and some of the discussion from the Fourth Scientific Conference of the International Epidemiological Association held at Princeton, N. J., in 1964. Considering the importance of the topic and the eminence of many of the presenters the book is rather disappointing. The editor admits in his introduction that as each chapter is based on a short (15 to 20 minutes) paper the writers were forced into the position of being brief and sometimes superficial. While these brief vignettes and the ensuing discussion may well have led to a productive and stimulating conference, the effect when reduced to the written word is unfortunate. In many chapters the only inferences to be drawn are statements of the obvious, that observers vary and that training of observers and randomization between observers is desirable, that for the control of diarrhea it is desirable to provide a sanitated environment, adequate disposal of feces, controlled water supply and improved food hygiene, etc. In many others tantalizing and often provocative but rather general statements are made, but the data presented are so fragmentary that it is difficult for the reader to form any independent judgment of their significance. The papers also suffer from a degree of unevenness, ranging from pedestrian superficialities to occasionally rather highly specialized and technical minute details. Despite these limitations there are a number of chapters in which some refreshing original thinking is evident. Chief among these perhaps are the papers in the section on Medical Care, particularly those by Last on Record Keeping and Van Deen on Analysis of Work Load in Primary Medical Care and the provocative paper by Kessel questioning the need for International Comparisons. Perhaps the major justification for this volume is as a source of reference for those about to embark on a study, for if the experience contained within these covers were adequately utilized the occurrence of incomparable studies would drop sharply. JOHN C. CASSELL