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9
Deaths.
The number of deaths registered in the Urban District
of Penge during the year was 199. Twenty-three of these were
transferable to other districts; but 120 occurring in public
institutions, etc., outside the District were transferred to
Penge.
The corrected number of deaths was therefore 296,
equal to a rate of 10.8 per 1,000.
Death rates are, however, markedly influenced by the
average age of the population and the relative proportions of
males and females. In a population which has a particularly
large number of aged persons, say between the ages of 75 and
85, the death rate will be increased. If there be a large proportion
of young people between the ages of 10 and 15, a
period of life when there are fewest deaths, the death rate in
this case will be lowered. Again, the death rate among males
at all ages, except between 5 and 15, when they are nearly
identical, is higher than that among females. If, therefore, the
number of males in a community be above the average, the
death rate tends to be raised. Due allowance, then, must needs
be made for the age and sex distribution of the population.
In order to compare mortality conditions with the
greatest degree of justice, the specific death rates relating to
areas, classes and groups rather than the death rates of the
general population should be the basis of comparison. Susceptibility
to disease differs appreciably with variable factors,
notably age and sex. Good comparative figures may be
obtained by their restriction to special classes, and expressing
them as rates for deaths of infants, children, adults or the
aged.