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 1963
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Table (i)
| Age | Principal cause of defective vision* | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cataract | Glaucoma | Other conditions | ||
| 0-4 years | 5 | - | 8 | 13 |
| 5-15 years | 1 | - | 8 | 9 |
| 16-64 years | 28 | 24 | 185 | 237 |
| 65-74 years | 60 | 42 | 150 | 252 |
| 75 years and over | 179 | 73 | 309 | 561 |
| Age not known | 2 | 1 | 9 | 12 |
| 275 | 140 | 669 | 1,084 | |
| (b) No. recommended to obtain treatment | 196 | 119 | 317 | 632 |
| 71.3 | 85.0 | 47.4 | 58.3 | |
Table (ii)
| No. of patients examined | Treatment recommended | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Medical | Surgical | Optical | Hospital supervision | ||||
| Early | Later | if general condition permits | ||||||
| Cataract | 275 | 79 | 49 | 25 | 22 | 25 | 112 | |
| Glaucoma | 140 | 21 | 43 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 82 |
| Other conditions | 669 | 352 | 68 | 11 | 19 | 8 | 41 | 233 |
| Total | 1,084 | 452 | 120 | 62 | 50 | 32 | 71 | 427 |
Persons recommended to obtain treatment are re-examined at intervals after the initial
registration. The number of persons re-examined for this reason in 1963 is shown in
table (iii).
Table (iii)
| Principal cause of defective vision | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cataract | Glaucoma | Other conditions | ||
| No. of persons re-examined | 216 | 70 | 338 | 624 |
| No. found to have had treatment | 146 | 62 | 238 | 446 |
| Percentage treated | 67.6 | 88.6 | 70.4 | 71.5 |
As a consequence of successful treatment 20 persons previously registered as blind
were found, on re-examination, to be partially-sighted and five persons previously certified
as blind or partially-sighted were found to be improved to such an extent as no longer to
justify registration.
Notifications of ophthalmia neonatorum are given on page 21.
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