Of 2- » F 2 TREASURY DEPARTMENT UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE HUGH S. GUMMING, Surgeon General SCHOOL ABSENCE OF BOYS AND GIRLS A COMPARISON OF ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL ON ACCOUNT OF SICKNESS AND FROM CAUSES OTHER THAN SICKNESS AMONG BOYS AND GIRLS BY SELWYN D. COLLINS Assistant Statistician United States Fu^lic Health Service REPRINT No. 793 FROM THE PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTS October 27, 1922 (Pages 2683-2687) z7.-%n WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1922 Ca I LIBHArtY OF CONGRFSS" '" { \p c^^ •V SCHOOL ABSENCE OF BOYS AND GIRLS. A Comparison of Absence from School on Account of Sickness and from Causes Other Than Sickness Among Boys and Girls.^ By Selwyn D. Coluns, Assistant Statistician, United States Public Health Service. Morbidity studies have uniformly revealed that time lost from sick- ness is greater among women than among men. It is the purpose of this paper to present briefly a comparison of absence from school on account of sickness for boys and girls, in order to see if the dif- ference in respect to disability between men and women holds true between boys and girls. A comparison can also be made of absence from sickness with absence from causes other than sickness among children of different sex and age. Data on absence from school of 6,130 children observed for a total of 669,214 child days during the school session 1919-20 in 13 localities in Missouri were published in the Public Health Reports for July 8, 1921. ^ Data on absence from school of 3,786 children observed for a total of 611,279 child days during the school session 1920-21, in 4 localities in Missouri, were published in the Public Health Reports for September 8, 1922.^ On the basis of these data it is proposed to make the comparisons indicated. Although the school year 1919-20 included the rather severe in- fluenza epidemic of February, 1920, which very appreciably increased the sickness for that year, the character of the age curves for the two years may be compared. Table I and Figures 1 and 2 compare the absence of girls and boys in each of the two years under considera- tion. Figure 1 compares absence of boys and girls of all ages, and Figure 2 makes the same comparison by age groups, 1 From Field Investigations in Child Hygiene, United States Public Health Service, in cooperation with the Statistical OfBee, United States Public Health Service. (Reprint from the Public Health Reports, vol. 37, No. 43, Oct. 27, 1922, pp. 26S3-26S7.) 2 Sickness Among School Children, Public Health Reports, vol. 36, No. 27, pp. 1549-1559. (Reprint, No. 674.) s The Relation of Physical Defects to Sickness, Public Health Reports, vol. 37, No. 36, pp. 2183-2193, Sept. 8, 1922. (Reprint No. 782.) 20179—22 3 4 SCHOOL ABSENCE OF BOYS AND GIRLS. Table I. — School absence of boys and girls. (Percentage of the total school days which were lost from sickness and from causes other than sickness by children in representative localities in Missouri during the school sessions 1919-20 and 1920-21 com- pared for boys and girls .>] School session and sex. Age. All ages. 6-72 8-9 10-11 12-13 14-16' SICKNESS. Both sexes. Bovs. . . Girls... 1920-21. Both sexes . Boys. . . Girls . . . 1919-20. 3.5 4.9 3.5 3.0 2.9 3.3 5.0 3.2 2.8 2.8 3.6 4.8 3.9 3.2 3.1 5.6 9.1 6.4 4.4 4.1 5.4 9.0 6.0 4.4 3.8 5.8 9.2 6.8 4.5 4.5 2.3 2.3 2.4 4.1 4.1 4.2 CAUSES OTHEH THAN SICKNESS. Both sexes . Boys. . . Girls... 1920-21. Both sexes . Boys. . . Girls... 2.5 2.9 2.1 1.9 2.6 2.7 3.3 2.2 2.1 2.7 2.2 2.5 1.9 1.8 2.4 3.0 3.4 2.6 2.7 3.1 3.3 3.4 2.9 2.9 3.4 2.7 3.3 2.3 2.5 2.7 3.6 4.1 3.1 3.3 4.0 2.6 1 Data for 1919-20 session include sickness from influenza during the epidemic of February, 1920. 2 Includes a few children under 6 years of age. 3 Includes a few children over 16 years of age. In practically all age groups in either of the years for which data are available, the girls were absent from school on account of sick- ness more than the boys. (Fig. 2, A.) The differences are not great, but they are consistent in the various age groups. Hardly enough ages are shown to determine whether the difference increases or de- creases with age, but there seems to be no clear tendency either way. Considering all ages, the rate of absence from sickness in 1920-21 for boys was 3.3 days per 100 days enrolled, while the rate for girls was 3.6, or 9 per cent greater for girls than for boys. In the 1919-20 session the rate for girls was 7 per cent greater than that for boys. Absence from causes other than sickness shows different variations as between the sexes and according to age from those shown by absence from sickness. (Fig. 2, C and D.) Boys were absent more than girls, and the difference seems to increase after about 10 years of age. Considering all ages, the rate of absence from causes other than sickness was 18 per cent less for girls than for boys in each of the two years considered. Comparing the age curves of sickness for the two school sessions (Fig. 2, B), it appears that the two curves are similar, high at 6-7 SCHOOL ABSENCE OF BOYS AND GIELS. years and declining as age increases. Since the 1919-20 session included the influenza epidemic of February, 1920, the rates for this session are higher at each age and could not reasonably be combined with the rates for the 1920-21 session to get an age curve based on the experience of both school sessions. However, the fact that the age curves for the two sessions are very similar, strengthens the belief that the relative incidence of sickness in the various ages is fairly accurately shown by either curve. SCHOOL ABSEHCE OF BOYS ADD GIRIS OP ALL AGES Percentage of the Total School Days iirtiich were Lost from Siclmess smd from Caases Other than Sickness Compared for Boys and Girls.* Sez and School| Session Per Cent 4 1 Slclcness 1920 - 21 Boys Girls 1919 - 20 Boys Girls 1920 - 21 Boys V//////////////////A /////////// ////////////////y/A Causes Other than Slolcndss Girls V//////// ZZ 1919 - 20 Boys Girls ^ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ * Data for 1919-20 session include siclcness from influenza during the epidemic of February, 1920. Fig. 1 The age curve of absence from causes other than sickness (Fig. 2, E) differs materially from the age curve of sickness (Fig. 2, B). The minimum absence from causes other than sickness comes in the middle school ages in both school sessions. SUMMARY 1. School bpys and girls were compared by age groups as to absence from sickness and from causes other than sickness on the SCHOOL ABSENCE OF BOYS AND GIRLS. SCHOOL ABSEHCB OF BOYS AHD GIRIS, BT AGE GROOPS Percentage of the Total School Days which were Lost from Sickness anl from Causes Other than Sickness during the School Sessions 1919-SO and 1920-21 Compared for Boys and Girls, by Age Periods • 6-7 Age Groups 8-9 10-11 12-13 U-16 Age Groups 6-7 8-9 10-11 12-13 U-16 9-- 8 -- o 5 4 o (u 3-- 1-- «5 «