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
Heston and Isleworth 1953
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Heston and Isleworth]
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Stillbirths.—The number of stillbirths in 1953 was 24 (22 legitimate, 2 illegitimate). The proportion of stillbirths per 1,000 total (live and still) births in recent years is shown below:—
| No. of Stillbirths | Rate per 1,000 total births | |
|---|---|---|
| 1930-34 | 214 | 31.2 |
| 1935-39 | 224 | 29.4 |
| 1940-44 | 200 | 27.7 |
| 1945-49 | 198 | 23.8 |
| 1950 | 23 | 18.0 |
| 1951 | 25 | 20.4 |
| 1952 | 33 | 25.9 |
| 1953 | 24 | 18.6 |
Deaths.—The deaths of residents of the Borough during 1953 were 1,066 (552 male, 514 female).
This represents a death rate for the Borough of 10.1 per 1,000 population. The deaths in any area are
influenced by the sex and age distribution of the population, and to permit of a true comparison, the
Registrar-General calculates for each local sanitary authority area what is called an area comparability
factor. When this is applied to the above Borough rate, the result is 10.4, as compared with a death
rate of 11.4 per 1,000 population for England and Wales.
The Registrar-General has classified the deaths registered during the year, and the details are
given in Table II. In Table IV, the deaths occurring during the year have been classified on local
information. To help in classifying causes of death, the Registrar-General may obtain additional
information which is not available to the Medical Officer of Health. For these two reasons, discrepancies
may be noticed on comparing Tables II and IV. The cause of death was certified by the Coroner in
207 cases.
A progressive change is taking place in the percentage age distribution of deaths, and this is shown in the following table:—
| 1910-14 | 1945-49 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 year | 21.8 | 5.3 | 2.0 | 2.15 | 2.16 |
| 1-4 years | 8.4 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.74 | 0.09 |
| 5-14 years | 3.8 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 0.18 | 0.56 |
| 15-24 years | 3.7 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.84 | 0.47 |
| 25-64 years | 30.8 | 33.0 | 32.9 | 31.11 | 29.91 |
| 65 years and over | 31.5 | 56.7 | 63.4 | 64.48 | 66.79 |
The chief causes of death in males were heart and circulatory diseases (186), cancer (100),
bronchitis and pneumonia (80), and cerebral hæmorrhage (51). In females, the chief causes of death
were heart and circulatory diseases (178), cancer (107), cerebral haemorrhage (84), and bronchitis and
pneumonia (47).
The Secretary of the Road Safety Committee informs me that during 1953 there were 577 road
accidents which resulted in 15 deaths, serious injury to 108 persons, and slight injury to 575 persons,
These figures are the highest for accidents and casualties recorded since 1948.
The number of deaths from road traffic accidents and other accidents in Borough residents during the last ten years is shown below:—
| Year | Road Traffic | Other Accidents | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age in years | All ages | Age in years | All ages | |||||||
| 0-4 | 5-14 | 15-64 | 65+ | 0-4 | 5-14 | 15-64 | 65+ | |||
| 1944 | - | 4 | 10 | 5 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 17 |
| 1945 | — | 1 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 2 | — | 10 | 15 | 27 |
| 1946 | — | 2 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 17 | 32 |
| 1947 | — | — | 10 | 2 | 12 | 1 | — | 12 | 20 | 33 |
| 1948 | — | — | 8 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 28 |
| 1949 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 2 | — | 9 | 8 | 19 |
| 1950 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 26 |
| 1951 | — | — | 9 | 3 | 12 | — | 1 | 4 | 13 | 18 |
| 1952 | —- | 1 | 3 | 7 | 11 | - | - | 3 | 12 | 15 |
| 1953 | — | - | 9 | 8 | 17 | — | -- | 5 | 15 | 20 |
| Total | 3 | 13 | 79 | 43 | 138 | 15 | 7 | 72 | 141 | 235 |