Abstract
A review of 15 international community studies of severe mental retardation in children is given, updating the review of Abramowicz & Richardson (1975) and detailing discernible shifts in the emphasis of epidemiological research. A particular feature of the review is an annotated guide to the case-finding methodology of the individual studies, designed to facilitate the task of a reader with specific interests or needs in evaluating the quality and relevance of particular studies.