Problems of population based epidemiological surveys

The author had the opportunity to plan and carry out a community based epidemiological survey of Delhi urban population and rural areas of Gurgaon (Haryana) for estimation of prevalence rates and risk factors for the coronary heart disease and hypertension. Based on the experience of conducting this largest population based epidemiological study in India for coronary heart disease and hypertension, problems in conducting these studies were identified. These are discussed in this paper so that other workers may benefit from this experience.