A NEUROEPIDEMIOLOGICAL SURVEY IN RURAL BOLIVIA - BACKGROUND AND METHODS

A door-to-door survey was carried out in rural areas of the Cordillera province, Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia. A cluster sample of 10,124 inhabitants was selected. The aim was to determine the prevalence of t he most common neurological diseases (epilepsy, stroke, parkinsonism a nd peripheral neuropathy) in this population using a modification of t he World Health Organization screening instrument. 1,130 subjects scre ened positive and were then investigated by neurologists. In this pape r we describe the background and methods of the survey and the charact eristics of the population.