London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Kensington 1898

Annual report on the health, sanitary condition, &c., &c., of the Parish of St. Mary Abbotts, Kensington for the year, 1898

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20
were 128 fewer than the deaths among the 104,030 females
(1,463). The death-rate in the male sex was, in round
numbers 19'6 per 1,000, as compared with a rate of 141 per
1,000 in the female sex. It must be obvious, therefore, that if
the numbers of the sexes had been equal, the death-rate
would have been somewhat higher than the recorded rate of
16*3 per 1,000. The Registrar-General in his annual summary
for 1892 dealt with this question, and gave the " factor for
correction for sex and age distribution " in the thirty-three
great towns of England and Wales ; and in his annual report
for 1897, the medical officer of health to the County Council
gave the factor for each of the sanitary districts of London.
Corrected after the method indicated, the death-rate of
Kensington in 1898, becomes (instead of 16.3 per 1,000) one
of about 18 0 per 1000 ; and the rate for London, as a whole,
about 19.8 instead of 18.7. The true death-rate is that which
shows the mortality per 1,000 living of each sex at different
age-periods, and this is shown in the table at page 21.