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4
Classification of Deaths
Deaths are classified under the 36 headings based on the abbreviated list under International
Statistical Classification of Diseases, Injuries and Causes of Death, 1955. Deaths are .assigned
to the area where the deceased normally resided, except where the death occurs in a residential
home or in a chronic or mental hospital where the deceased had been a patient for six months or
more.
Comparability Factors
To enable local vital statistics to be compared with other districts or with national figures
the Registrar General issues comparability factors for correcting crude birth and death rates.
These factors make allowance for the way in which the sex and age distribution of the local
population differs from that for England and Wales as a whole. The death rate comparability
factor has been adjusted specifically to take account of the presence of residential institutions
in the area.
To compare the crude birth and death rates for Tottenham with the national rates,
Tottenham's figures must first be multiplied by the appropriate comparability factor .99 for
births and 1.06 for deaths.
Birth-rate
There has been a slow but steady recovery in the birth-rate during the past 4 years. In
1959 it reached 15.09 per 1,000 population, the highest since 1949- The highest post-war rate
was in 1947 - 21.57 and the lowest 12.37 in 1954.
Illegitimate Births
It is a matter of concern to observe the growing percentage of illegitimate births in recent
years. Of the babies born in Tottenham in 1959, 7.6% or one in thirteen, was illegitimate.
This is the highest figure recorded during the past 40 years although 7.4% was recorded in 1945.
Between the two world wars the rate never exceeded 4.6% and in only 5 years was 4.0% exceeded.
Infantile Deaths
A total of 42 deaths under 1 year of age is recorded by the Registrar General, giving a rate
of 23.97 per thousand live births. Local records can be traced for only 41 and of these three
occurred at home and the remaining 38 in hospital. Thirty-one of the deaths were perinatal
deaths, i.e., they occurred in the firstweek of life, and a further 3 occurred in the firstfourweeks.
The Causes
(i) Prematurity. (17 deaths) Eight of these deaths occurred within 24 hours and seven others
within 48 hours and a further two within a week.
(ii) Congenital Malformation (10 deaths) The malformations included serious deformities of
the heart, brain and spinal cord.
(iii) Birth Injuries. (4 deaths) Two cases were due to cerebral haemorrhage and two cases to
other intracranial haemorrhages.
(iv) Atelectasis (4 deaths) These deaths occurred within two days of birth and in three cases
were associated with prematurity.