THE CODING OF SURVEY ELECTROCARDIOGRAMS BY TECHNICIANS

Epidemiological surveys of ischemic heart disease generally depend upon electrocardiographic diagnosis. Unfortunately the insecurity of this foundation is increasingly evident: there are major difficulties both in standardizing readings and in coping with very large numbers of records. Com- puter analysis offers some hope of assistance; but it is not yet practicable for ordinary users, and, at least within the next few years, it is unlikely to be helpful to any but large groups The immediate need is for a practicable system, capable of dealing with fairly large numbers of records in a standardized manner.