Methodological issues in community-based studies of gynecological morbidity

This report describes the lessons learned from a series of community-based studies of gynecological morbidity among young married women in Karnataka S tate, India. Women's self-reports of symptoms of illness were found to be r esponsive to the context of the interview and the nature of questioning. In particular, women appeared much readier to report symptoms to lay intervie wers after being invited to undergo a clinical examination in the near futu re than they were if no examination were offered. Little consistency was fo und in the results obtained front interviews, clinical examinations, and la boratory tests. Apparently, no alternative exists to the collection of biol ogical specimens for laboratory analysis when estimates of disease prevalen ce are needed. Use of generic health-related quality-of-life assessments is recommended for future surveys. Prospective studies will yield more valuab le data on these topics than will cross-sectional surveys.