View report page

250
Defective Hearing
The commonest causes of deafness in children are middle
ear disease and adenoids. Routine medical inspection showed
that 0.4% entrants, 0.4% intermediates and 0.5% leavers in the
children examined had defective hearing.
Speech Defects.
There are no special classes for stammerers in the Croydon
Educational Scheme. Routine medical inspection findings
showed in the Entrant group 0.9% children defective, in the
Intermediate group 0.6% and 0.2% in the Leaver group.
Skin Diseases.
The findings show only the incidence in the groups examined
at a specific examination and must not be taken to indicate the
total incidence of skin disease in school children. Entrants gave
3.5 per cent. incidence in boys and 2.1 per cent. in girls; Intermediate
boys 1.8 per cent. and girls 2.3 per cent.; Leavers 2.9
per cent. boys and 1.4 per cent. girls; a total in all groups of 2.8
per cent. boys and 1.9 per cent. girls.
Deformities.
Among children examined at Routine Medical Inspection 0.7
per cent. of the boys and 0.5 per cent. of the girls showed evidences
of rickets; 3.0 per cent. boys and 4.3 per cent. girls had some
abnormal degree of spinal curvature, and 4.2 per cent. boys and
4.0 per cent. girls showed some other physical deformity.
External Eye Diseases.
Squint was present in 1.2 per cent. of all children examined
in the various groups and was most frequently found in the
Entrant group (1.4 per cent. boys and 2.1 per cent. girls). Its
incidence declined as age advanced. Blepharitis occurred in 1.5
per cent. of all the children, being most prevalent in the Intermediate
group (1.7% boys and 1.7% girls); Conjunctivitis was
present in 0.2 per cent. of all the children, and other external eye
defects were noted in 0.4 per cent.
The total percentages of eye defects in the various groups was
3.7 for Entrants; 3.5 for Intermediates; and 2.7 for Leavers. For
1932 the corresponding figures were 2.8, 2.7 and 1.5.