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
Marylebone 1909
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Marylebone, Metropolitan Borough]
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The necessity for this "correction" is, of course, due to the fact that
differences in death rates in various areas are not entirely dependent upon the
sanitary conditions existing in these areas, but also on the constitution (age and
sex) of the population. A population consisting of aged persons would show
more deaths than one consisting entirely of young and vigorous adults: a
population made up of a large number of males and a small number of females
has more deaths and a higher death rate than one in which the females outnumber
the males The death rates of such populations are not comparable
the one with the other nor with those of populations differently constituted.
The Registrar-General's factors do away with all difficulty in comparing death
rates, and all which have been corrected by his method may be safely examined
side by side.
The corrected death rates of other London Boroughs are given in the accompanying table and may be compared with that for St. Marylebone.
| Borough. | Birth Rate. | Corrected Death Rate. | Death Rates from | Infant Mortality per 1,000 Registered Births. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seven chief Zymotic Diseases. | Phthisis. Pulmonalis. | ||||
| Battersea | 23.9 | 13.0 | 1.27 | 1.16 | 107 |
| Bermonsdey | No r eturn | ||||
| Bethnal Green | No r eturn | ||||
| Camberwell | No return | ||||
| Chelsea | 18.7 | 14.5 | 1.20 | 1.44 | 107 |
| Deptford | 26.8 | 14.1 | 1.63 | 1.48 | 103 |
| Finsbury | 35.9 | 19.0 | 2.49 | 2.28 | 105 |
| Greenwich | 22.1 | 12.2 | 0.99 | 1.01 | 102 |
| Hammersmith | — | 14.1 | 1.6 | _ | 125 |
| Hampstead | 13.6 | 8.9 | 0.51 | 0.56 | 74 |
| Holborn | 18.3 | 15.0 | 0.80 | 2.01 | 70 |
| Islington | 23.3 | 14.0 | 1.19 | 1.21 | 103 |
| Kensington | 18.6 | 14.6 | 1.03 | 0.93 | 112 |
| Lambeth | 26.1 | 14.0 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 97 |
| Lewisham | 21.8 | 10.3 | 0.47 | 0.78 | 75 |
| City of London | 13.4 | 16.0 | 0.44 | 1.36 | 106 |
| Paddington | 20.0 | 12.9 | 0.76 | 1.06 | 102 |
| Poplar | 30.1 | 16.4 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 130 |
| St. Marylebone | 200 | 15.4 | 0 89 | 1.58 | 102 |
| St. Pancras | 22.1 | 14.8 | 0.95 | 1.58 | 109 |
| Shoreditch | 32.4 | 20.1 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 138 |
| Southwark | 27.1 | 16.7 | 1.66 | 1.79 | 124 |
| Stepney | 30.3 | 15.2 | 1.66 | 1.65 | 118 |
| Stoke Newington | 18.3 | 11.5 | 0.63 | 0.80 | 84 |
| Wandsworth | 20.6 | 10.9 | 0.36 | 0.82 | 86 |
| City of Westminster | 15.9 | 12.7 | 0.60 | 1.30 | 93 |
| Woolwich | 22.9 | 12.4 | 1.06 | 1.17 | 82 |
The average death rate for the preceding 10 years is 16.8. The rates in the
several registration sub¬districts for the last three years were as under:—
1907. 1908. 1909.
All Souls 12.3 13.2 12.6
St. Mary 13.7 14.9 12.8
Christ Church 18.3 19.0 18.2
St. John 16.0 13.4 146