RESUMEN
Based on the results of a clinicoepidemiological examination of the population of one of the medical districts of Leningrad and of the rural community (altogether 14,600 persons), marked differences were established in the general incidence of nervous system diseases (595.3% and 199.6%, respectively) as were 15 main patterns of neurological pathology. The incidence of nervous diseases was found to be fairly high, especially among women, which was supported by the data on 7 organized populations (overall 10.1 thousand persons). Factors of urbanization were shown to have an adverse effect on the population health status, manifesting, first of all, in a direct relationship between the incidence of initial signs of cerebral circulation failure and the number of the urban population. In the organized populations of the cities, the number of patients with the most unfavourable course of nervous system diseases (subcompensated and decompensated patterns) reached 21.5% of the total number of persons afflicted with chronic diseases of the nervous system. Meanwhile in the organized rural community, it was only 9.2%.