Morbidity in children of the first seven years of life

We studied the morbidity of infants and preschool children according to three years of attendance at medical and preventive institutions in rural areas of the Gorki Oblast. The study was based on 10 so-called point settlements with Central Regional Hospital, district hospitals, or outpatient clinics. All appeals for the years 1982-1984 (both primary and secondary) were copied to a special statistical card from 3,895 child development histories (Form No. 112). (The data on secondary contacts for illnesses were copied from the special statistical card for 1982-1984. Data on secondary contacts for exacerbations of chronic diseases were used to calculate the criterion for identifying a contingent of frequently ill children. In the statistical chart, primary contacts were coded, on the basis of which disease prevalence rates were calculated.