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
London County Council 1913
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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42
Annual Report of the London County Council, 1913.
The effect of this more exact allocation of deaths, will be seen from the following table, which indicates the percentage by which the death-rates, as given in the Summaries for the three years 1911-1913, are increased in the more accurate annual report figures for the same period.
| Metropolitan Borough. | Increase in death- rates per cent. | Metropolitan Borough. | Increase in death- rates per cent. | Metropolitan Borough, | Increase in death- rates per cent. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paddington | 2.6 | Stoke Newington | 6.1 | Bermondsey | 1.6 |
| Kensington | 3.6 | Hackney | 2.3 | Lambeth | 3.1 |
| Hammersmith | 1.9 | Holborn | 2.4 | Battersea | 3.5 |
| Fulham | 4.1 | Finsbury .. | 0.8 | Wandsworth | 4.5 |
| Chelsea | 2.3 | London, City of | 2.1 | Camberwell | 2.5 |
| Westminster, City of | 4.8 | Shoreditch | 0.9 | Deptford | 3.5 |
| St. Marylebone | 4.6 | Bethnal Green | 1.8 | Greenwich | 1.4 |
| Hampstead | 9.6 | Stepney | 1.5 | Lewisham | 6.7 |
| St. Pancras | 2.0 | Poplar | 3.0 | Woolwich | 1.1 |
| Islington | 1.5 | Southwark | 2.6 | London County | 2.7 |
A point of considerable interest in connection with the influence exerted by movement of population upon the phthisis death-rate, is thus brought to light for it transpires that in areas of better social class the percentage increase in the death-rate is greater,
| Number of group of boroughs in order of "social condition," (a) | Increase in group death-rate per cent. |
|---|---|
| I. | 6.7 |
| II. | 3.4 |
| III. | 2.7 |
| IV. | 2.8 |
| V. | 1.4 |
The following table shows the mortality from phthisis during the year 1913 in groups of London sanitary districts, arranged in order of "social condition."
| Number of group of boroughs in order of "social condition." | Crude phthisis death-rate per 1,000 persons living. (b) | Corrected death-rate per 1,000 persons living. (b) | Corrected death-rate (London, 1,000). |
|---|---|---|---|
| I. | 0.73 | 0.69 | 547 |
| II. | 1.04 | 0.98 | 778 |
| III. | 1.26 | 1.18 | 944 |
| IV. | 1.45 | 1.42 | 1,129 |
| v. | 1.70 | 1.74 | 1,389 |
| London | 1.30 | 1.25 | 1,000 |
Phthisis—
Mortality
and "social
condition."
The diagram (U) facing this page shows the mortality at ages from all forms of tuberculosis
in England and Wales, Prussia, the registration area of the United States and Ireland for 1911 and some
previous census years. It will be noted that the curves of age-incidence in the four nationalities represented
have some points in common, there being evident in all a decrease in mortality up to about the
tenth year, followed by an increase more or less continuous until between the thirtieth and sixtieth year.
There are, however, some very striking differences, especially between the English and Irish and Prussian
curves after the thirty-fifth year. It is for instance remarkable that while in England and Wales the
maximum mortality among males in 1881 was at about the fortieth year (becoming thereafter later
and later until in 1911 it is at about the fiftieth year), in Prussia there was a remarkably heavy
incidence on later ages, with a maximum in the age period 60-70, a phenomenon which has become
markedly less in each decennium, and, indeed, an opposite change to that in England and Wales is in
some degree discernible, the Prussian maximum since 1881 having tended to fall if anything earlier in
life. It thus appears that the Prussian and English mortalities are approaching a similar age-incidence,
since the result of the changes noted is to bring the age-incidence curves in the two countries in 1911
into far greater similarity than they exhibited thirty years before.
A preliminary consideration, which may have had some small influence, may perhaps be referred
to, namely, the fact that at the higher ages the mortality from other causes than tuberculosis is somewhat
greater in Prussia than in England. Thus the death-rate from all causes among males aged between
50 and 60 in England and Wales in 1911 was 20.6 per 1,000 living of that age, and 2.5 per 1,000 died
of tuberculosis. In Prussia the corresponding figures were 21.4 and 2.9 respectively. It has been
found in London that among the more prosperous sections of the community, the deaths from phthisis
(a) See footnote (a), page 17. (b) See footnote (c), page 6.
Age-incidence
of
Tuberculosis
mortality in
England
and Wales,
Prussia, the
United
States
registration
area and
Ireland.