Statistics relating to mortality in the mercantile marine / report of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
- Date:
- 1932
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Statistics relating to mortality in the mercantile marine / report of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![at an estimate have been proposed. It has been suggested that the denominator I have used is too small and that a better choice would be the total number of British seamen serving on vessels of 100 tons gross and over employed at some time during the year. In my opinion this denominator would over-state the number of individuals exposed to risk, because the same individual might be included several times and would each time figure as a unit, 1.e., as a whole year of life. By the use of the denominator mentioned above (162,656 seamen) and that provided by the Annual Census of seamen figures (127,518 seamen) the following results are reached :— Mercantile Marine. Royal Navy. Population Population 162,656 127,518 86,240 Number Rate Rate Number Rate Cause of Death. of per per of per Deaths. 1,000. 1,000. Deaths. 1,000. Disease... ie oa 295 1-81 2:31 153 de td Injury fas ie 109 0-67 0-85 49 0-57 Drowning sae Se 205 1-26 16] 42 0-49 Suicides me wide 31 0-19 0-24 9 0-10 All Causes... Se 642 3°95 5:04 254 2-94 97. I am of opinion that by the use of the larger denominator the resultant rates err much more in the direction of under-state- ment than those previously given err in the direction of over- statement. 98. Bearing in mind the widely differing conditions of service characterising employment in the Navy and Mercantile Marine respectively, the higher mortality rates due to *‘ All Causes ’’ and to ‘‘ Disease ’’ in the latter are not excessive, nor are they higher than might have been anticipated. With the exception of the titles ‘‘ Drowning ’’ and ‘‘ Heart Diseases ’’, both of which appear as more frequent causes of death among British merchant seamen, the differences characterising the rates belonging to the remaining titles are so slight as to call for no comment; mortality rates from Phthisis and Cancer are actually below those reported for 1929 in the Navy. 99. When proportionate mortality figures are considered, deaths due to ** Disease ’’, “‘ Injury ’’, “‘ Respiratory Diseases ’’, ‘* Can- cer ’’, and ‘* Diseases of the Digestive System ’’ are, proportionately to the total numbers of deaths recorded, more frequent causes of death in the Navy than in the Mercantile Marine.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32176338_0042.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
