London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Hackney 1875

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hackney]

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30
The Table shows that the number of children under 5 years
has increased since 1851, although not to a great extent, but
that they were a little below those of the population in London,
and decidedly so as regards all England, the rate in 1871 having
been 129, 130, and 135 respectively. At 5-15 years the number
has slightly decreased, whilst at 15-25 years they were decidedly
larger, being 21-4 against 191 in 1851. There was also a slight
decrease at 25-35 and 35-45 years; the same at 45-55 ; a
decrease at 55-65, viz., from 58 to 53 per 1000 population; a
slight decrease at 65-75, but a slight increase at 75-85 years.
The constituent parts of the population as regards age has, therefore,
not varied very much in the 20 years, so that unless other
causes had come into operation the mortality, as far as age is
concerned, would not have altered much.
Having, then, ascertained the number per 1000 of the whole
population living at each age, in order to obtain a normal deathrate
we have only to multiply the number at each age by the
death-rate as shown by the English Life Table, and add up all the
products. If we wish to obtain a normal death-rate which allows
for variation in the relative number of males and females, we
must ascertain the number of males and females at each age and
divide those numbers by the total population to get out the number
per 1000 population, and then multiply each number so
obtained by the average death-rate of males and of females, as
shown in the Life Table for the respective ages. The sum thus
obtained will show the number of deaths which would take place
in the district if the deaths occurred in Hackney at the same
rate as in a Life Table population. As before stated, the variation
resulting from difference in the number of the two sexes is
not large, but it is so considerable for age as to reduce the deathrate
for all England from 24.47, which is the Life Table rate of a
stationary population, to 22.75, which is the normal rate, or
a difference of 17.2 deaths per 10,000 population. To simplify
this, I will state that the standard death-rate for England, if it
had a stationary or Life Table population, would have been, as
just stated, 24.47; but as the population of England increases at