Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-03-12

|
it.? What proportion of
Community it can be prevented?
! These are questions
| that strike at both the
heart strings and the purse strings of
all the people of the country; and they
must be answered before great prog
i ress can be expected in the newly re-
vived movement for human conserva-
ton. Before long. no doubt, sickness
! censuses will be made by the public
health service at least in typical COM
munities as preliminary to the great
! ly extended activities that that service
or the long-sought department of
health will surely be commissioned to
take up in a few years.
But in the meantime the public
health service is showing the keenest
| interest in a community sickness sur
vey that has recently been made by a
| large insurance company. The service
has accepted the statistics of what is
| practically the first survey of its kind
made in America, as of great value,
has published them and is sending
| them throughout the country to per-
sons interested in public health.
| The survey was made last September
| in rather typical eastern city of over
100000 population, and though carried
| out in a month which is known to be
more healthful in the community than
the average for the year, indicates an
aggregate loss from sickness for males
| of the city of nearly $4,000 days in a
year. This, it is estimated. means loss
IN wages alone of nearly $1.500,000 a
year, without taking into consideration
either the lost income of the wage
earners among the c,400 women in the
! city estimated to be sick every day
! in the year. or The cost of medical care,
drugs and nursing.
Details of the information gathered
brought out interesting facts as to the
degree of sickness, the most preva-
lent ailments and the effect of age and
sex. About 50 per cent of the persons
returned as sick We're unable to work,
and of these approximately IS per cent
were confined to bed. About 80 per
cent of these, in turn. or II per cent
of all persons sick. were in hospitals
Higher rates of sickness were found
for females than for males for all ages
up to fifty-f1ve. After this age the rates
for females We're strikingly lower.
When all ages were considered it was
found that 81 out of each 1000 males
and 25 out of each 1000 females were
considered, so that the figures would
apply to workers, the respective sick
rates for males and females were de-
termined to be 81 and 81 per 1000
When degree of sickness and one phase
of its economic aspect was considered
it developed that % men and IS wom-
Ell in each 1000 individuals of their
sexes over fifteen years old were sick
enough to remain away from work.
The group of maladies most respon-
I Gil 10 fnp ~ ~
general diseases, such as rheumatism.
tuberculosis and whooping cough. The
classes next in Importance were diseases
of the nervous system and sense or
sans and digestive troubles. OF the
diseases which kept workers from en-
ployment rheumatism. strangely
| enough led all others, causing II per
cent of the serious stability. 1t was
followed by external causes, such as
fractures 6 per cent: tuberculosis, ap-
proXimate1y the same: apopleXy and
, paralysis. 3 per cent: diseases of the
stomach, slightly over 4 per cent; or
ganic heart disease. the same: condi-
tons incident to child birth, slightly
per cent. and long list of diseases Of
minor Importance. Among those sick
but able to work rheumatism and
| stomach trouble were by far the most
important diseases, causing. respective
ly, 10 and per cent of the disability
showed that of the persons sick and
| unable to work 6 per cent were inca
pacitated less than one week, % per
| cent less than one mouth and AZ per
cent less than one year.
Since communities vary widely, in
climate. racial makeup and "a score of
| other ways. the sickness rates deduced
from this simple survey cannot be ap-
piled with scrupuious accuracy to the
country as a whole. Because of the
healthful month chosen. however. as
well as the comparative healthfulness
of the city itself. it is believed that the
rates are less than the averages that
would be ascertained if all commune
ties were canvassed They will at least
give a rough approximation of the
magnitude of our national sickness.
They indicate that there are in the
United States every day in the year g.
$40, 900 men and 100000 women too i'll
to attend to their usual vocational
duties What the loss is in dollars and
cents and what portion of the illness
could be prevented can only be guessed.
but every economist knows that the one
is tremendous and every sanitarian
knows that the other is By no means
small.
The governments reclamation serv-
ice, like an experienced breaker" of
horses. is carefully learn
"Rrea kinu', the traits of the great