London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Paddington 1910
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]
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98
mortality among young children.
Surviors to Age Five Yers Index Numbers.
| 1891-95. | 1896-1900. | 1901-05. | 1906-10. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persons | 100 | 99.3 | 105.1 | 108.1 |
| Males | 100 | 98.6 | 104.7 | 108.0 |
| Females | 100 | 99.9 | 105.5 | 108.3 |
It appears from the above index numbers that the increase in the numbers of male survivors
was relatively greater than that of female.
With a single exception fewer deaths have to be noted at each age in each quinquennium
after the first (Table 4), which observation confirms what has alreadv been written as to the
smaller numbers of survivors in the second quinquennium not being due to higher mortality
were due to the smaller numbers of survivors reaching their first birthday and not to increased
mortality at the higher ages. After the second quinquennium there were uniformly greater
numbers of survivors at each age of life, the number of children (persons) reaching their fifth
birthday increasing from 77,458 in 1891-95 to 83,716 in 1906-10. The index numbers for the
survivors at age 5 vears are given below.
TABLE 4.
Of 100,000 Children Born, numbers dying after first year of life
| During (year). | 1891 1895. | 1896-1900. | 1901-1905. | 1906-1910. | 1891-1895. | 1896-1900. | 1901-1905. | 1906-1910. | 1891-1895. | 1896-1900. | 1901 1905. | 1906-1910. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per sons. | Males. | Females. | ||||||||||
| 2nd | 4,018 | 3,886 | 3,198 | 2,946 | 4,285 | 3,978 | 3,370 | 3,270 | 3,744 | 3,789 | 3,020 | 2,611 |
| 3rd | 1,740 | 1,620 | 1,240 | 1,120 | 1,642 | 1,591 | 1,422 | 1,184 | 1,845 | 1,652 | 1,052 | 1,055 |
| 4th | 1,149 | 1,116 | 711 | 672 | 1,134 | 1,122 | 765 | 669 | 1,165 | 1,110 | 656 | 676 |
| 5th | 877 | 847 | 517 | 507 | 841 | 874 | 490 | 463 | 915 | 819 | 544 | 555 |
in that period, but to a reduction in the numbers of children reaching their first birthday.
The solitary exception to the rule is the slight increase in the number of deaths of females in
the fifth year of life to be noted in the last quinquennium.
The " force of mortality "*—otherwise the " central death rate "—is obtained by dividing
the number of deaths during anv interval of time by one-half the sum of the numbers of
individuals alive at the beginning and end of that interval of time. Thus the "force of
mortality" for males in the quinquennium 1891-95 during the first day of life is obtained by
dividing the number of deaths (1,440, see Table 2) observed during that period bv half the sum
of the number of children born alive (assumed to be 100,000), and the number surviving
to the end of the first day, otherwise the number entered as alive on the second day
(98,560, see Table 1). Put into algebraical form—
m 0.01450
x (100,000 + 98,560)
The results of the calculations of the force of mortality for males and females separately,
are given in Table 5. The table is useful as giving a truer indication of the changes which
have taken place in the rates of mortality at different age intervals than do the mortality
dx dx
* 1 he actuarial formula for the " force of mortality (mx) is
½
(lx +lx + 1)