Advancing Precision in Childhood Causes of Death. Wording and Source Discrepancies in Palma (Spain), 1836–1930

Joana Maria Pujadas-Mora; Enrique Perdiguero-Gil

doi:10.51964/hlcs23118

Author(s)

Joana Maria Pujadas-Mora Open University of Catalonia & Center for Demographic Studies
Enrique Perdiguero-Gil Miguel Hernández University of Elche

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51964/hlcs23118

Keywords:

Infant mortality, Child mortality, Causes of death, Diagnostic precision, Lexicographical analysis

Abstract

Assessing the precision of causes of death is essential for gaining a clearer understanding of past disease incidence and its evolution. This study introduces a novel lexicographical approach to examining childhood mortality in the port city of Palma between 1836 and 1930, drawing on three sources that recorded individual causes of death: burial registers, parish books, and the civil register. In this sense, we estimate the number of words used in diagnoses to trace how efforts toward greater precision and standardization evolved over time. These are reflected in the increasing use of diagnostic qualifiers and the near disappearance of lengthy, undetermined diagnostic descriptions — particularly in cases of congenital diseases, which are a significant group within ICD10h related to infant mortality. To further explore the meaning of diagnoses, we use medical and general dictionaries, focusing on the labels teething, fever, and diarrhoea to better understand diagnostic discrepancies between burial and parish records. These discrepancies appear to stem largely from the higher incidence of death certificates without a stated cause in parish books — likely due to the requirement in burial registers to include the name of the certifying physician. In the case of teething, we observe a notable association with digestive system diseases, as well as with fever itself. Finally, it is worth noting that diarrhoea came to be understood more as a symptom than as an independent disease as a result of new ways of conceptualising disease that developed during the 19th century.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Anderton, D. L., & Leonard, S. H. (2004). Grammars of death: An analysis of nineteenth-century literal causes of death from the age of miasmas to germ theory. Social Science History, 28(1), 111–143. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0145553200012761

Ballano, A. (1815). Diccionario de medicina y cirugía, ó biblioteca manual médico quirúrjica. [Dictionary of medicine and surgery, or medical-surgical manual library] (Vol. 3, pp. 62–64). Imprenta Real.

Barona, J. L. (1993). Teorías médicas y la clasificación de las causas de muerte [Medical theories and the classification of causes of death]. Revista de Demografía Histórica, 11(3), 49–64.

Beemer, J. K. (2009). Diagnostic prescriptions: Shifting boundaries in nineteenth-century disease and cause-of-death classification. Social Science History, 33(3), 307–340. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40268004

Bernabeu Mestre, J. (1992). Fuentes para el estudio de la mortalidad en la España del siglo XIX. Las estadísticas demográfico-sanitarias [Sources for the study of mortality in 19th century Spain. Demographic and health statistics]. In I encuentro Marcelino Pascua (pp. 27–44). Centro Nacional de Epidemiología.

Bernabeu-Mestre, J., Perdiguero, E., & Barona, J. L. (2007). Determinanti della mortalità infantile e transizione sanitaria. Una riflessione a partire dall'esperienza spagnola [Determinants of infant mortality and health transition. A reflection from the Spanish experience]. In M. Breschi, & L. Pozzi (Eds.), Salute, malattia e sopravvivenza in Italia fra '800 e '900 (pp. 175–193). Forum.

Brel Cachón, M. P. (1998). La modernización demográfica en el Valle del Esla. Enfermedad y muerte, 1871–1990 [Demographic modernization in the Esla Valley. Disease and death, 1871–1990] [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Universidad de Salamanca.

Caballero Villar, J. M. (1886). Diccionario tecnológico de ciencias médicas [Technological dictionary of medical sciences]. Viuda e hijos de Iturbe.

Canaleta, E. (2013). La construcción de la profesión médica en Mallorca durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX [The construction of the medical profession in Mallorca during the second half of the 19th century] [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Universitat de les Illes Balears.

Cuesta Ckerner, J. (1883–1892). Vocabulario tecnológico de medicina, cirujía, farmacia y ciencias auxiliares [Technological vocabulary for medicine, surgery, pharmacy and allied sciences] (2nd ed., 4 Vols.). Gregorio Juste.

Escartín, J. M. (2001). La ciutat amuntegada: Indústria del calçat, desenvolupament urbà i condicions de vida en la Palma contemporània, 1840–1940 [The crowded city: Footwear industry, urban development and living conditions in contemporary Palma, 1840–1940]. Edicions Documenta Balear.

Gallego, G. (2009). El proceso de profesionalización sanitaria y la transición demográfica en Mallorca (1848–1932) [The process of healthcare professionalisation and the demographic transition in Mallorca (1848–1932)] [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Universitat de les Illes Balears.

Granjel, L. S. (2006). Historia de la Real Academia Nacional de Medicina [History of the Royal National Academy of Medicine]. Real Academia Nacional de Medicina.

Gutiérrez Rodilla, B., & Pascual, J. A. (2022). Tesoros lexicográficos y terminología médica. La explotación del recurso TeLeMe [Lexicographic thesauri and medical terminology. The exploitation of the TeLeMe resource]. Revista de Investigación Lingüística, 26, 273–276. https://doi.org/10.6018/ril.570601

Hiltunen Maltesdotter, M., & Edvinsson, S. (2025). What was killing babies in Sundsvall? A study of infant mortality patterns using individual level cause of death data, 1860–1892. Historical Life Course Studies, 15, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.51964/hlcs19299

Janssens, A. (2021). Constructing SHiP and an international historical coding system for causes of death. Historical Life Course Studies, 10, 64–70. https://doi.org/10.51964/hlcs9569

Janssens, A., & Devos, I. (2022). The limits and possibilities of cause of death categorisation for understanding late nineteenth century mortality. Social History of Medicine, 35(4), 1053–1063. https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/hkac040

Larra y Cerezo, Á. (1894). Diccionario de bolsillo de medicina, cirugía y farmacia prácticas [Pocket dictionary of medicine, surgery and pharmacy practices]. Imp. de la Viuda de M. Minuesa de los Ríos.

López Piñero, J. M. (1961). Los sistemas nosológicos del siglo XVIII [The nosological systems of the 18th century]. Asclepio, XIII, 65–93.

López Piñero, J. M. (1983). Historical origins of the concept of neurosis. Cambridge University Press.

Mackenbach, J. (2021). The rise and fall of diseases: Reflections on the history of population health in Europe since ca. 1700. European Journal of Epidemiology, 36(12), 1199–1205. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-021-00719-7

Manera Erbina, C. (2001). Història del creixement econòmic a Mallorca: 1700–2000 [History of economic growth in Mallorca: 1700–2000]. Lleonard Muntaner.

Moll Blanes, I. (2005). Algunos aspectos de la organización de la asistencia sanitaria en la Mallorca rural, siglos XVIII y XIX [Some aspects of the organisation of health care in rural Majorca, 18th and 19th centuries]. Texto & Contexto-Enfermagem, 14(4), 469–479.

Moriyama, I. M., Loy, R. M., Robb-Smith, A. H. T., Rosenberg, H. M., & Hoyert, D. L. (2011). History of the statistical classification of diseases and causes of death. National Center for Health Statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/classification_diseases2011.pdf

Muñoz Machado, S. (1975). La sanidad pública en España (Evolución histórica y situación actual) [Health services in Spain (Historical evolution and current situation)]. Instituto de Estudios Administrativos.

Muro, J. I. (Ed.). (1996). Geografía, estadística y catastro en España, 1856–1870 [Geography, statistics and cadastre in Spain, 1856–1870]. Ediciones del Serbal, Colección La Estrella Polar.

Perdiguero, E. (1993). Causas de muerte y relación entre conocimiento científico y conocimiento popular [Causes of death and the relationship between scientific and popular knowledge]. Revista de Demografía Histórica, 11(3), 65–88.

Prats, E., & Pujadas-Mora, J. M. (2008). Enric Fajarnés i Tur (1858–1934), entre la história i la demografia [Enric Fajarnés i Tur (1858–1934), between history and demography]. Govern de les Illes Balears.

Pujadas-Mora, J. M. (2009). L'evolució de la mortalitat infantil i juvenil a la ciutat de Palma (Mallorca, 1838–1960) [The evolution of infant and child mortality in the city of Palma (Mallorca, 1838–1960)] [Doctoral dissertation, Universitat de les Illes Balears]. http://hdl.handle.net/11201/153143

Pujadas-Mora, J. M. (2024). What was killing babies in Palma, Spain? Analysing infant mortality patterns using individual-level cause of death data, 1836–1930. Historical Life Course Studies, 14, 82–104. https://doi.org/10.51964/hlcs11677

Pujadas-Mora, J. M., & Salas Vives, P. (2014). Agua: Discurso higienista y práctica municipal (Mallorca, 1855–1936) [Water: Hygienist discourse and municipal practice (Mallorca, 1855–1936)]. Hispania, 74(246), 123–150.

Raftakis, M. (2021). Why were infants dying and what were they dying from? Infant mortality patterns in the Greek urban centre of Hermoupolis, Syros (1860–1940). The History of the Family, 26(3), 405–433. https://doi.org/10.1080/1081602X.2021.1921008

Ramiro Fariñas, D. (1998). La evolución de la mortalidad en la infancia en la España interior, 1785– 1960 [The evolution of infant mortality in inland Spain, 1785–1960] [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Reid, A, Garrett, E, Dibben, C, & Williamson, L. (2015). 'A confession of ignorance': Deaths from old age and deciphering cause-of-death statistics in Scotland, 1855–1949. The History of the Family, 20(3), 320–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/1081602X.2014.1001768

Robles González, E. (2002). La transición de la mortalidad infantil y juvenil en las comarcas meridionales valencianas, 1838–1960 [The transition of infant and child mortality in the southern counties of Valencia, 1838–1960]. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid.

Rodríguez Tejerina, J. M. (1981). La Real Academia de Medicina y Cirugía de Palma de Mallorca a los ciento cincuenta años de su fundación (1831–1981) [The Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Palma de Mallorca on the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its founding] (pp. 33–46). Act. II Congr. Nac. RRAA de Medicina y Cirugía. Palma de Mallorca, Graf. Capo.

Sanz Gimeno, A. (1997). La transición de la mortalidad infantil y juvenil en el Madrid rural. Siglos XIX y XX [The transition of infant and child mortality in rural Madrid: 19th and 20th centuries] [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Universidad Complutense, Madrid.

Smith Sehdev, A. E., & Hutchins, G. M. (2001). Problems with proper completion and accuracy of the cause-of-death statement. Archives of Internal Medicine, 161(2), 277–284. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.161.2.277

van de Walle, F. (1986). Infant mortality and the European demographic transition. In A. J. Coale, & S. C. Watkins (Eds.), The decline of fertility in Europe (pp. 201–233). Princeton University Press.

Weyler Laviña, F. (1854). Topografía físico-médica de las Islas Baleares y en particular de la de Mallorca [Physico-medical topography of the Balearic Islands and in particular that of Majorca]. Imprenta de Pedro José Gelabert.

World Health Organization. (2022). International Classification of Diseases, Eleventh Revision (ICD-11). Reference Guide. World Health Organization. https://icdcdn.who.int/icd11referenceguide/en/html/index.html