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 1920
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Marylebone, Metropolitan Borough]
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Of the total, 131 at death were aged between 65 and 70; 234 between 70 and 80; 120 between 80 and 90, and 13 between 90 and 100. Over 100—
| Causes— | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronchitis and other respiratory diseases | 180 | 135 | 225 | 184 | 150 | 166 | 165 | 137 |
| Nephritis and Bright's disease | 22 | 24 | 17 | 11 | 15 | 16 | 12 | 13 |
| Cancer | 60 | 54 | 68 | 67 | 62 | 58 | 63 | 64 |
| Tuberculosis | 22 | 16 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 4 |
| Influenza | 6 | 18 | 7 | 22 | 12 | 18 | 23 | 9 |
| Violent deaths | 16 | 13 | 19 | 25 | 18 | 19 | 13 | 15 |
Causes of and ages at Death.—General information with regard to the deaths
which occurred in the Borough during the year, mainly as to causes and the ages at
which death took place, is given in Table III of the Ministry of Health series at
page 73.
This same table gives the number of deaths from various specified causes which
occurred in institutions, in hospitals, nursing homes, etc. In each of the groups all
deaths, whether of residents or non-residents, are included, which accounts for the
fact that the total comes up to 1,110.
Fuller information than is possible in the table is given in the following pages,
in which also the figures relating both to causes of death and the ages at which these
causes were operative are analysed.
INFANTILE MORTALITY.
The infantile mortality rate of any district is the number of deaths of infants
under one year of age per 1,000 of the births which occurred in the same year. The
number of babies under one year who died in St. Marylebone in 1920 was 145, and
the number of births in that year 2,217. The infantile mortality rate is therefore 65'0,
the lowest ever recorded in the Borough, the nearest to it being that of 1913 when
the rate was 90.8. The figure for 1919 was 98.5, so that between the two years
there occurred a reduction in the number of deaths amongst babies of no less than
33.5 per 1,000. Though it is the case that 1920 all over was marked by a low
infantile mortality rate, there are few districts in which the drop was so marked as
in Marylebone. The rate for London as a whole was 75 and in the list of the
boroughs St. Marylebone stands seventh.
The course which the rate has taken is graphically shown in the chart on
page 38, which indicates clearly that the only really serious interruption to the
decline was in 1917. That the rate will continue long at its present low level is
almost too much to hope for, but it is unlikely that it will again reach the point
attained in the year named.
The means adopted in the Borough with a view to bringing about a reduction
in infantile mortality and generally improving the life and health chances of infants
and children are described in a separate section of this report—Maternity and Child