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
Kensington 1937
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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The corrected death rate of 13.3 is not one which should be compared with those for other
districts, for it is necessary that the death rate should be adjusted for age and sex distribution.
The proportion of old people to young, and of males to females, varies considerably in different
districts. The mortality at the extremes of life is much greater than in the middle period, and at
all ages the mortality in females is rather less than in males of corresponding ages. A borough such
as Kensington, which has a large proportion of old people amongst its inhabitants, shows a crude
death rate which compares unfavourably with that of an industrial borough where the majority of the
population consists of young adults, although the conditions of life in the former may actually be very
much better than in the latter. Before the death rates of different districts can be compared so as to
be of any value in estimating the relative healthiness of the populations, the age and sex distribution
must be taken into account.
An adjusting factor, based on the age and sex distribution of the population, has been supplied
by the Registrar-General, and this, when applied to the Kensington death rate, gives a rate of 12.4,
which should be used when comparing the death rate of Kensington with that of other districts.
Causes of Death.—The following list shows certain causes of death which are important in themselves or from the fact that they contributed a considerable share to the total mortality for the year:—
| Cause of death. | Number of deaths. |
|---|---|
| Principal zymotic (or epidemic) diseases | 61 |
| Epidemic influenza | 100 |
| Phthisis | 114 |
| Other tuberculous diseases | 16 |
| Cancer | 344 |
| Bronchitis | 55 |
| Pneumonia | 169 |
| Heart disease | 625 |
| Acute and chronic nephritis | 52 |
| Puerperal fever | 2 |
| Premature birth, etc. | 68 |
| Violence (including suicide 40) | 133 |
| Old age | 23 |
| All other causes | 583 |
| 2,345 |
It will be seen that over one-third of the deaths, or 963, were due to diseases of the heart or
the organs of respiration. Phthisis, an infectious and preventable disease, caused 114 deaths.
The diseases described in the above list as the "principal zymotic diseases" are smallpox,
measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping cough, enteric fever (including fever not otherwise
defined) and diarrhoea.
Cancer.—Cancer caused 344 deaths, and of this number 322 occurred in persons over the age
of 46 years. Carcinoma was the form of cancer to which 315 deaths were attributed; sarcoma
and epithelioma were the assigned causes of 9 deaths; 20 deaths were certified as due to cancer
or malignant disease without further definition.
The parts of the body which were affected in each case are shown in the following table :—
Deaths from Cancer, 1937.
| Parts affected. | Sex. | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Male. | Female. | ||
| Buccal cavity | 12 | 4 | 16 |
| Lungs | 26 | 19 | 45 |
| Digestive organs, peritoneum, etc. | 72 | 102 | 174 |
| Female genital organs | — | 39 | 39 |
| Male genito-urinary organs | 15 | — | 15 |
| Breast | — | 23 | 23 |
| Skin | — | 3 | 3 |
| Other and unspecified organs | 7 | 22 | 29 |
| Totals | 132 | 212 | 344 |
The deaths in the several wards, etc., are set out in the following table :—
| The Borough | 344 |
| North Kensington | 159 |
| South Kensington | 185 |