Birbhum Health & Demographic Surveillance System (Birbhum HDSS)
The Birbhum HDSS examines population health and healthcare utilisation among a rural community to develop effective health policies. Based in West Bengal, the study initially involved 59,395 individuals within 13,053 households in 2008, with participants recruited from across 351 villages. As of 2023, the study consists of 51,424 participants, aged 0 to 96 years, representing 12,045 households, who are followed up every two weeks.
Study design
Cohort - open, Household panel
Number of participants at first data collection
59,395 (participants)
Recruitment is ongoing
Age at first data collection
Varied (participants)
Participant year of birth
Varied (participants)
Participant sex
All
Representative sample at baseline?
The rural population of West Bengal.
Sample features
Country
Year of first data collection
2008
Primary Institutions
Society for Health and Demographic Surveillance
Profile paper DOI
Funders
Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal
Department of Science and Technology, Government of West Bengal
Ongoing?
Yes
Data types collected
- Interview – face-to-face
- Physical or biological assessment (e.g. blood, saliva, gait, grip strength, anthropometry)
- Secondary data
- Self-report questionnaire – unspecified
- Interviews or focus groups
- None
- Census data
Engagement
Keywords
Consortia and dataset groups
