Mortality in the Victorian asylum: was it so high? Standardised Mortality Rate compared with historical methods
Richardson, Charlotte Robson, Alastair Sood, Loopinder Ferrier, I Nicol Owen, Andy
Richardson, Charlotte
Robson, Alastair
Sood, Loopinder
Ferrier, I Nicol
Owen, Andy
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Affiliation
East London Foundation Trust; General Practitioner (retired), Southam; Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust; Newcastle University
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Publication date
2024-08
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Abstract
Mortality is closely linked to age, sex, and social and historical context. Standardised Mortality Rates (SMR) address these contextual factors by comparing mortality in a population under study with that in people of the same age and sex, the same period in history and from a similar cultural context. We use records from the Hatton Asylum and contemporaneous census data in order to calculate SMR in the asylum population, showing rates that were about 2.5 times greater than the population at the time. This is much lower than crude mortality rates, which we calculated as being more than seven times greater than in the population. The SMR method may enable a more meaningful understanding of mortality in asylums or other institutions.
Citation
Richardson C, Robson A, Sood L, Ferrier IN, Owen A. Mortality in the Victorian asylum: was it so high? Standardised Mortality Rate compared with historical methods. Hist Psychiatry. 2024 Aug 8:957154X241269206. doi: 10.1177/0957154X241269206. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39118302.
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Article