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
Orpington 1959
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Orpington]
This page requires JavaScript
12
1,388 live births were registered in the Urban District during
the year, as against 1,319 in 1958. Of this number 718 were males
and 670 females.
The illegitimate birth rate was 34.8 per 1,000 live and still
births. There were 49 illegitimate births (including 1 stillbirth)
19 being males and 30 females. Of a total of 21 stillbirths
registered, 11 were males and 10 females. The stillbirth rate for
the year was 14-9 per 1,000 total live and still births, and 0*28 per
1,000 estimated total population.
Deaths.
Seven hundred and fifty-one deaths appertaining to the Urban
District were registered in 1959, giving a death rate of 10.1 per
1,000 total population. The adjusted rate for use when comparing
one area with another is 11.3. The rate for England and Wales as
a whole is 11.6.
Of the Orpington deaths registered, 400 were males and 351
females.
The following is an analysis of the ages at death:
| Under 1 year of age | 20 |
| 1 and under 5 years of age | 3 |
| 5 and under 15 years of age | 3 |
| 15 and under 25 years of age | 6 |
| 25 and under 35 years of age | 10 |
| 35 and under 45 years of age | 14 |
| 45 and under 55 years of age | 44 |
| 55 and under 65 years of age | 120 |
| 65 and under 75 years of age | 171 |
| 75 years and over | 360 |
| 751 |
Full details of the causes of death will be found in Table II in the appendix, but the following table, giving details of certain causes of death in the Urban District during the past ten years may prove of interest:
| 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer (all sites) | 114 | 120 | 85 | 108 | 108 | 134 | 131 | 131 | 158 | 172 |
| Cancer of the lung and bronchus | 20 | 19 | 9 | 19 | 25 | 23 | 34 | 33 | 38 | 48 |
| Heart and Circulatory Diseases | 342 | 293 | 293 | 285 | 320 | 262 | 264 | 284 | 328 | 348 |
| Respiratory Diseases (excluding T.B.) | 66 | 76 | 77 | 81 | 44 | 79 | 135 | 88 | 119 | 107 |
| Tuberculosis | 11 | 19 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Infectious Diseases | 1 | — | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Road Accidents | 9 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 12 |
| Other Accidents | 9 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 6 |