The first collection of vital statistics data for the entire United States was made during the decennial census of 1850 when information on births and deaths was obtained. Since that time the system for collection of birth and death statistics has been modified from an enumeration to a registration procedure.
Official vital statistics in the United States Division of Vital Statistics have been, for the most part, limited to births and deaths but in 1939 the activities were expanded to include marriage and divorce data, statistics of patients in mental institutions, information relating to hospitals and hospital facilities, and criminal and judicial statistics.
Records of Births.
One of the notable features in the field of vital statistics in 1940 was the unprecedented public demand for legal proof of birth. This enormous increase in demand for copies of birth certificates came as a result of industrial mobilization in connection with the National Defense Program. The offices of the city and State bureaus of vital statistics were virtually swamped with requests for facts of personal identity, citizenship, and age from those employed or seeking employment in the defense industries. Never before in the history of the country have so many people felt the acute and vital need for proof of age and citizenship supplied by the birth certificate.
In conjunction with the 16th Decennial Census, a number of major projects were started in the U. S. Division of Vital Statistics in 1940. One of these projects relates to the testing of the completeness of birth registration by checking transcripts of birth certificates against the infant enumeration data from the 1940 Census. Other studies being conducted include (a) analysis of results and problems of residence allocation of births and deaths, (b) regional differences in mortality and natality, (c) study of the comparability of mortality statistics on the basis of the various decennial revisions of the International List of Causes of Death, (d) compilation and analysis of mortality and natality rates from 1900 to 1940, (e) statistical study of mortality from diseases of the heart, (f) a statistical critique of medical care in institutions, (g) population study of patients in mental institutions, (h) a critique of marriage and divorce statistics, and (i) differentials in judicial and penal treatment of offenders.
Birth and Death Rates.
According to the latest available natality and mortality statistics for the United States, there were 2,265,588 births and 1,387,897 deaths, a decrease of 21,374 in the number of births and an increase of 6,506 in the number of deaths as compared to the corresponding figures for the preceding year, 1938. On a rate basis, these data show that the birth rate declined from 17.6 per 1,000 estimated population in 1938 to 17.3 per 1,000 population in 1939. There was also a slight decrease in the death rate from 10.7 per 1,000 population in 1938 to 10.6 per 1,000 population in 1939.
The trends of the natality and mortality rates for the U. S. Registration Area show a rapid decline in the birth rate for the birth registration area from 1915 to 1933 when the downward trend in the birth rate was checked. Since 1933, the general trend in the birth rate appears to be in the upward direction but the increase during the period from 1933 to 1939 has been very slight. The death rate has been generally declining since the establishment of the U. S. Death Registration in 1900. The rate of decline, however, has been considerably less than that for birth rates. It is of interest to note that the death rate in 1939 was the lowest ever reported for the U. S. Death Registration Area.
Death Rates in United States by Causes.
The 10 principal causes of death (listed highest to lowest), diseases of the heart (excluding diseases of coronary arteries); cancers and other malignant tumors; nephritis; cerebral hemorrhage and softening; influenza and pneumonia (all forms); congenital malformation and diseases of early infancy; tuberculosis (all forms); diabetes mellitus; motor-vehicle accidents; and syphilis (all forms), accounted for about 68 percent of all the deaths in the United States in 1939. As in 1938, the most striking change to be noted in the comparison of specific mortality rates occurred in the death rate for influenza and pneumonia. The recent advances in and the wider application of pneumonia therapy appear to have been effective in lowering influenza and pneumonia from the third to the fifth leading cause of death in 1939. The other major changes in the rank order of the principal causes of death were the inclusion of syphilis in the place of suicide as the tenth leading cause of death and decline of tuberculosis from the sixth to the seventh position. Also affected by the changes in death rates in 1939 were diabetes mellitus and motor-vehicle accidents. There was a shift in the rank order of these causes due to the increase in the diabetes death rate and the slight decrease in the death rate for motor-vehicle accidents.
Comparison of Causes of Mortality.
It is of interest to note that influenza and pneumonia, and tuberculosis, which were the two leading causes of death in the U. S. Death Registration Area during the period, 1900-1910, are now occupying much lower positions in the rank order of the principal causes of death. The death rates for these causes in 1939 were the lowest in the history of the U. S. Death Registration Area. Equally significant are the increases in recent years in the death rates for the diseases of old age such as heart diseases, cancer, cerebral hemorrhage and softening of the brain, and nephritis. The death rate for cancers and other malignant tumors was, in 1930, the highest ever reported for the death registration area.
In regard to the other principal causes of death, the death rates show that there was a decrease in the death rate for heart diseases and an increase in the nephritis death rate in 1930. Part of these changes might be artifacts arising from the use for the first time of the fifth revision of the International List of Causes of Death.
Span of Life in Early Man.
See ANTHROPOLOGY.
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