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It was the purpose of this study to give a survey of standards of hygiene in homes for the aged as well as nursing homes and to find out whether there is any need of appropriate training measures. Furthermore, we tried to compile a brief standard of assessment that should enable public health officers to draw up a standardised documentation of inspections. Four homes of the aged or nursing homes were chosen. At a cursory inspection two of them seemed properly run, whereas the other two showed certain deficiencies. Using a questionnaire that covered 11 fields of interest each home was registered 5-fold at intervals of 6 weeks and once again 22 months later. 3 training courses were held at one home of each type (properly run, less properly run). Urine analyses served as indicators for the success of these courses. The most important and relevant points of each field of hygiene were chosen to compile a short schedule of assessment. By means of the detailed questionnaire it was possible to register completely the standard of hygiene and to check on the nursing of the patient. Inspections alone improved the standards of hygiene of those homes where no training courses had been held (homes B and C). With the other two homes the attitude towards hygiene improved even if the staff was less motivated (less properly run home D, trained). When the regular inspection and training measures had been interrupted for a longer time, the standards of hygiene were maintained only partially in some areas of interest.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)