1. measures of mortality
the purpose of measuring mortality is to enable inferences to be drawn
about the likelihood of death occurring within a specific population
during a specific period of time
general or specific
while past experience is used as a basis for estimating future changes
in the population at risk, uncertainty about some of the factors
compels the actuary to introduce margins of safety
uncertainty compels
the population at risk in most vital statistical calculations is the
mean population of the area over the period to which the rate
relates
the shorter the interval, the more likely it is that the rate will be
influenced by some epidemic occurrence or a spell of particularly
inclement weather
the longer life be, the greater is the guilt the days, the months
and years
where small numbers of deaths occur, chance fluctuations are likely to
be relatively large
after the newborn infant has survived the hazards of the first few
days of life, during childhood the risk of death is very small
adolesence, the impact and strain of industrial life, tenderness and
violence
at later stages the wearing out of the human frame
ungainly and ugly
and at the end of the day
weary with sloth
generations have progressed towards this ideal
from one age to the next
and the future is immaterial
let us take stock
ethnic factors
...
5. social and economic factors in mortality
The main difficulties in measurement are
the things which we cannot say
we are concerned with a broad spectrum of elements which determine
man's interaction with external conditions
subnutrition
quantitative deficiencies
well-being
over-feeding and obesity
number of deaths from each cause by age and sex in each occupation
by duration - days, months and years
relative population at risk
ages 15-64
the longer life be
standardization
everywhere it is so
males, single women and married women
a very crude diagnostic tool
one of the strongest influences militating against health in the past
has been the increasing gravitation of the population into crowded
cities
he who chases after trivial things
many of the worst elements of town life have been removed or mitigated
by enlightened local goverment and by the general rise in standards og
hygiene in the day to day life of the community at large
because we do want to live
urban-rural differential, closeness and distance
in so far as housing conditions directly affect health, they normally
do so by affecting the incidence of infectious disease
health is not only related to bricks and mortar
climate
those in professional and managerial employment have lighter mortality
than unskilled workers. The former are also better educated, in health
and in all matters, than the latter
deprives himself of freedom
except in relation to perinatal mortality
the failure of mortality at older ages in men to improve from one age
to the next
identified cigarette smoking as the major cause of high mortality from
lung cancer
principally over-eating and under-exercising were shown to be
associated with higher mortality from arterial heart-disease
one sorrow is followed by another
we have seen that the correlations between the various social,
economic and cultural factors are so strong that it is dangerous and
can be misleading to study any one in isolation
occupation
'social classes'
imitations of life
new 'socio-economic groups' were introduced by the General Rigister
Office at the 1961 Census
(1) type of activity (active or inactive and in the latter event the
type of inactive group, e.g. hospital immate, housewife, ect.); (2)
occupation; (3) employment status (employer, manager, etc.); and (4)
branch of economic activity (industry)
socio-economic groups
given a sufficient degree of homogeneity, these groups provide a
powerful tool for the study of social differentials in mortality
two-thirds of the adult population agreed 29-62 years was selected for
observation
representative group of medical practitioners
they do not take us away from ill
my soul and this life
the days, the months and the years
thoughts grow turbid
and the cloud man's reasoning
the longer life be, the greater be the guilt
one's sorrow is followed by another
let us take stock, my soul, thou and I
what is past and what is present
it is nothing bur senseless fortuity
and the future is for me immaterial
no more and no less
everywhere it is so
he who chases after trivial things
deprives himself of freedom
and is left with ephemeral hopes
all that we cannot say
which grows from day to day
from one age to the next
becomes weary with sloth
ungainly and ugly
the things we cannot say
they do not take us away from ill
the immortal reward
all that we cannot say, those are the things which we must say
because we do want to live, even though we deride and maybe even
despise life, we cling onto it and want in fact to keep it forever