London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1902
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
This page requires JavaScript
The Register-Genral, in the annual summaries relating to London and other large towns, since the year 1893, has distributed the deaths from phthisis, occurring in public institutions belondind to London, to the sanitary districts to which they belong, and it is therefore possible to compare the phthisis death-rate of the various sanitary districts.
| Metropolitan borough. | Deaths, 1902. | Death-rate per 1,000 living, 1902. | Metropolitan borough. | Deaths, 1902. | Death-rate per 1,000 living, 1902. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paddington | 155 | 1.05 | Shoreditch | 217 | 1.81 |
| Kensington | 232 | 1.29 | Bethnal-green | 260 | 1.97 |
| Hammersmith | 166 | 1.43 | Stepney | 579 | 1.90 |
| Fulham | 200 | 1.38 | Poplar | 293 | 1.70 |
| Chelsea | 109 | 1.45 | Southwark | 550 | 2.62 |
| Westminster, City of | 328 | 1.78 | Bermondsey | 249 | 1.88 |
| St. Marylebone | 258 | 1.92 | Lambeth | 526 | 1.70 |
| Hampstead | 72 | 0.85 | Battersea | 229 | 1.31 |
| __St. Pancras | 450 | 1.88 | Wandsworth | 221 | 0.90 |
| Islington | 513 | 1.50 | Camberwell | 402 | 1.51 |
| Stoke Newington | 66 | 1.26 | Deptford | 127 | 1.12 |
| Hackney | 323 | 1.43 | Greenwich | 119 | 1.19 |
| Holborn | 179 | 3.01 | Lewisham | 143 | 1.06 |
| Finsbury | 233 | 2.28 | Woolwich | 181 | 1.49 |
| London, City of | 44 | 1.69 | London | 7,424 | 1.601 |
The following table shows the crude phthisis death-rate and the phthisis death-rate
corrected for differences in age and sex constitution of the various metropolitan boroughs. The
"factors for correction," also shown in the table, have been calculated by applying the population
of each of the metropolitan boroughs to the death-rates at each age and for each sex obtaining
for London in the five years 1897-1901.
Crude and corrected death-rates,1 per 1,000 persons living, in the County of London and the several
metropolitan boroughs.
Phthisis.
| Sanitary area. | Standard death rate. | Factor for correction for age and sex distribution. | Crude death-rate, 1902. | Corrected death-rate, 1902. | Comparative mortality figure, 1902. (London 1,000.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 1.74 | 1.00000 | 1.60 | 1.60 | 1,000 |
| Paddington | 1.80 | .96659 | 1.05 | 1.01 | 631 |
| Kensington | 1.78 | .97419 | 1.29 | 1.26 | 787 |
| Hammersmith | 1.74 | .99600 | 1.43 | 1.42 | 887 |
| Fulham | 1.69 | 1.02786 | 1.38 | 1.42 | 887 |
| Chelsea | 1.83 | .95018 | 1.45 | 1.38 | 862 |
| Westminster, City of | 1.95 | .89205 | 1.78 | 1.59 | 994 |
| St. Marylebone | 1.85 | .93836 | 1.92 | 1.80 | 1,125 |
| Hampstead | 1.75 | .98862 | 0.85 | 0.84 | 525 |
| St. Pancras | 1.80 | .96551 | 1.88 | 1.82 | 1,137 |
| Islington | 1.75 | .99145 | 1.50 | 1.49 | 931 |
| Stoke Newington | 1.77 | .97914 | 1.26 | 1.23 | 769 |
| Hackney | 1.68 | 1.02969 | 1.43 | 1.47 | 919 |
| Holborn | 1.97 | .87894 | 3.01 | 2.65 | 1,656 |
| Finsbury | 1.72 | 1.01050 | 2.28 | 2.30 | 1,437 |
| City of London | 1.89 | .91946 | 1.69 | 1.55 | 969 |
| Shoreditch | 1.66 | 1.04206 | 1.81 | 1.89 | 1,181 |
| Bethnal-green | 1.59 | 1.03984 | 1.97 | 2.15 | 1,344 |
| Stepney | 1.65 | 1.05281 | 1.90 | 2.00 | 1,250 |
| Poplar | 1.66 | 1.04772 | 1.70 | 1.78 | 1,112 |
| Southwark | 1.74 | .99829 | 2.62 | 2.62 | 1,637 |
| Bermondsey | 1.65 | 1.05026 | 1.88 | 1.97 | 1,231 |
| Lambeth | 1.75 | .99258 | 1.70 | 1.69 | 1,056 |
| Battersea | 1.69 | 1.02483 | 1.31 | 1.34 | 837 |
| Wandsworth | 1.72 | 1.01050 | 0.90 | 0.91 | 569 |
| Camberwell | 1.68 | 1.03522 | 1.51 | 1.56 | 975 |
| Deptford | 1.69 | 1.02969 | 1.12 | 1.15 | 719 |
| X Greenwich | 1.67 | 1.04143 | 1.19 | 1.24 | 775 |
| Lewisham | 1.69 | 1.02543 | 1.06 | 1.09 | 681 |
| Woolwich | 1.70 | 1.01881 | 1.49 | 1.52 | 950 |
It will be seen from the foregoing table that in 1902 (comparing the corrected deathrates)
the phthisis death-rate was highest in Holborn (2.05) and lowest in Hampstead (0.84).
The phthisis death-rates in London in each of the four quarters of the year 1902 were as follows
first quarter 1.84; second quarter 1.52 ; third quarter 1.38; and fourth 1.64 per 1,000 living.
The necessity for "age and sex correction" in the case of phthisis is well illustrated by
the following figures showing the mean phthisis death-rates obtaining for London in the five
years 1897—1901.
1 See footnote (1), page 12.