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of physically handicapped children, the results of which were given in my report for 1957
(page 125). In addition, in nearly a quarter of the cases two or three conditions were stated
on the returns. To overcome this difficulty and to secure uniformity of classification as
between schools, Dr. R. E. C. Copithome, assistant principal medical officer, who is
familiar with the work of the schools for the delicate, undertook a scrutiny of the diagnoses
given for each individual pupil in the survey, devised an ad hoc scheme of classification,
and indicated which condition should be regarded, for the purposes of the survey, as the
primary diagnosis.
As can be seen from table (i), two.thirds of the pupils fall into the 'respiratory' group
of conditions and half of these suffer from asthma. A quarter of the pupils come into the
'nutrition' group, whilst the remainder, some ten per cent., have a wide range of miscellaneous
conditions.