Overview of the ICDDR,B sample registration system

Two requirements have emerged as of paramount importance in the design of such systems: (1) rapid, cost-effective monitoring systems to evaluate the demographic impact of project interventions; (2) highly accurate, longitudinal data systems which permit more detailed understanding of the determinants of, and interrelationships between, morbidity and mortality - areas of investigation into which the analysis of data from cross-sectional surveys has provided only limited insight. The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) has been at the forefront of development of longitudinal systems for demographic surveillance. In the present paper, emphasis is given to describing the Sample Registration System (SRS) in operation in the Extension Project areas. This system is subsequently compared with the Matlab Demographic Surveillance System, the other main demographic system in operation at the ICDDR,B. The relative strengths and limitations of the SRS are then assessed. The paper concludes with a discussion of issues in the application of the SRS to other areas of demographic and epidemiological research. (Author abstract)