[Report 1932] / Medical Officer of Health, Glasgow.

  • Glasgow (Scotland)
Date:
1932
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1932] / Medical Officer of Health, Glasgow. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    3/380 (page 3)
    PREFACE. It. is customary to preface the Annual Report .by a brief reference to some of its principal contents. Population.—This is estimated at 1,095,263 persons on the basis of the number of inhabited bouses as returned by the City Assessor, and represents an estimated increase of 6,802 persons above the figure (1,088,461) of the 1931 census. This increase is approximately the same as the number by which the births exceeded the deaths. Reference was made in last year’s Report to the factors responsible for the comparatively small growth of the population within the city boundary in recent years (3-5 per cent, during the ten years between the census of 1921 and that of 1931). The inhabitants of a city increase in proportion as the births exceed the deaths. In Glasgow, as elsewhere throughout the country, this margin is becoming smaller owing to the decline in the birth-rate, which has fallen from 27-6 in 1921 to 20-8 during the year under review. Vital Statistics.—The general death-rate for the year was 14-7 per thousand of the population, which is slightly higher than the figure of 14-2, the rate for each of the two preceding- years. As compared with the experience of last year, the rate for diseases of the circulatory system was slightly higher, malignant diseases (cancer, &c.) remained at much the same figure, while diseases of the nervous system were somewhat reduced. The general trend, in recent years, of these major causes of death has been in a continuously upward direction, owing to the fact that they are common in older people who nowadays form an increasingly high proportion of the population. It may be remarked that the administrative effect of this gradual alteration in the age constitution of the population has given rise to an increased demand for the institutional treatment of affections associated with old age, a demand which is felt in both general and mental hospitals. The other major causes of death, i.e., the infectious diseases and those of the respiratory system, vary from year to year, according to their prevalence. The former influence the vital statistics of young children, while the latter attack old and young alike. Last year the infectious diseases were relatively low, and the respiratory affections high in incidence.