London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Croydon 1923
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Croydon]
This page requires JavaScript
This is the lowest death-rate recorded for the Borough. The Chief individual causes of death during the year were as follows : —
| Number of Deaths | Per cent. of total Deaths | |
|---|---|---|
| Bronchitis, pneumonia | 283 | 14.1 |
| Cancer | 259 | 12.9 |
| Organic heart disease | 248 | 12.3 |
| Tuberculosis | 190 | 9.5 |
| Disease of arteries | 135 | 6.7 |
| Cerebral haemorrhage, apoplexy | 112 | 5.6 |
| Senility | 101 | 5.0 |
| Diseases of kidneys | 59 | 2.9 |
| Premature birth | 39 | 1.9 |
| Notifiable infectious diseases | 25 | 1.2 |
| Infantile debility | 22 | 1.1 |
| Diarrhoea (under 2 years) | 21 | 1.0 |
| Measles and whooping cough | 20 | 1.0 |
| 75.2 |
The death-rate from pneumonia, bronchitis, and from cancer
over a series of years will be found set out in the Appendix, Table
II. It will be seen that the death-rates from bronchitis and from
pneumonia have remained practically stationary during the whole
period comprised within the table, viz., 1913-1923; that for cancer
has shown some upward tendency.
INFANT MORTALITY.
176 deaths of Croydon infants under one year of age occurred
in 1923 (Appendix, Table I.), giving an infant mortality (number
of deaths under one year of age per 1,000 births) of 52, compared
with G4 in 1922. This is the lowest infant mortality rate yet
recorded in the Borough.
The following gives a comparison with corresponding infant mortality rates in England and Wales:—
| 1923. | |
|---|---|
| Infant mortality, Croydon | 52 |
| 105 County Boroughs and large towns, including London | 72 |
| London | 60 |
| England and Wales | 69 |
In the maternity and child welfare section of this report is
included an analysis of the variations in the several factors causing
infantile deaths over a period of twenty years.