Page images
PDF
EPUB

able. Also requested was information about the authority administering and financing the school health program and the personnel available for school health services. (The questionnaire is shown on page 65.)

This questionnaire was mailed to superintendents of schools in each of the 3,430 cities in Continental United States having a population of 2,500 or more, as based on the latest (1940) census information available at that time. Of this number of cities, 3,186, or 92.9 percent, replied.

The second questionnaire.-The second questionnaire included a variety of questions concerning specific phases of the school health service program. (This questionnaire is shown on pages 66-68.)

The Public Health Service and the American Medical Association cooperated in the preparation of the questionnaire. As the American Medical Association was conducting its own related study in 1950, consideration was given to having the two studies supplement each other where desirable.

The questionnaire was sent to each of the 1,012 cities with a population of 10,000 or more which had reported having school health services. A 50 percent sampling was made of the 1,874 cities with a population of 2,500 to 9.999 which had reported school health services. The total number of usable returns was 1,566, or 79.4 percent. Table 21 gives further information in regard to responses to the questionnaire. In order to weight Group IV correctly when computing the percentage totals for regions and the United States, the number of responses for the various questions has been doubled.

Of the 2,866 cities which had reported having a school health service, 315 had indicated that the program was administered by the local Boards of Health. The Public Health Service cooperated further by arranging to have the second questionnaire sent to these cities through the State health officers who, in turn, sent them to the local health officers.

Analysis by city groups and regions.-The data have been presented for city population groups based on the Federal Census of 1940, as follows: Group I, 100,000 and over; Group II, 30,000 to 99,999; Group III, 10,000 to 29,999; and Group IV, 2,500 to 9,999.

The information has also been studied by State groupings based on the nine census regions as follows:

NEW ENGLAND: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC: New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

EAST NORTH CENTRAL: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

WEST NORTH CENTRAL: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

SOUTH ATLANTIC: Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.

EAST SOUTH CENTRAL: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

WEST SOUTH CENTRAL: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.

MOUNTAIN: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah,

and Wyoming.

PACIFIC: California, Oregon, and Washington.

Number of School Systems
Having Health Services

The school superintendents to whom the questionnaires were sent were asked to check whether health services were available in their repective school systems. The following statement, intended to serve as a guide to the respondent in answering the question, appeared on the questionnaire: "For the purposes of this questionnaire, the ONLY phases of the school health service program to be considered are (a) the medical examination, and (b) the dental examination or inspection." In interpreting the data here presented, these qualifying remarks need to be kept in mind.

A summary of the number and percent of school systems having a school health service is presented in table 1. Similar information for regions and groups is given in table 22.

Table 1-Number of cities in the United States having a school health service in 1950

[blocks in formation]

United States.-Replies to the first inquiry were received from 3,186 school systems in Continental United States having populations of 2,500 or more. Of this number, 2,886, or 90.6 percent, reported the presence of school health services.

In table 2 a comparison is made between the number of school systems reporting school health services for the years 1930, 1940, and 1950. It is shown in this table that there has been a progressive increase in the number of cities having a school health service in some stage of development. For example, in 1930, of the 60 percent of cities replying, 90 percent in Group II and 83 percent in Group III reported a school health service. In 1940, the corresponding percentages were 99 and 98 with about 70 percent of the cities replying. In 1950, the percentages were about the same as for 1940, but with nearly all (93 percent) school systems returning the questionnaire.

[blocks in formation]

Table 2.-Comparison of the number of health services reported in 1930, 1940, and 1950

1930 1

[blocks in formation]

cities

Num

Per

Num

Per

cities

Num

Per

Num- Per

cities

Num

Per

Num- Per

ber

cent

ber

cent

ber

cent

ber

cent

ber

cent

ber

cent

[blocks in formation]

1 U. S. Office of Education. School Health Activities in 1930.

James F. Rogers.

Washington, U. S. Government Printing Office, 1931

(Pamphlet No. 21).

(City size based

on the 1920 census.)

U. S. Office of Education. Health Services in City Schools. James F. Rogers. ⚫ City size based on the 1940 census; also applies to subsequent tables.

Washington, U. S. Government Printing Office, 1942.

(City size based on the 1930 census.)

Additional information classified by State, city size, and region follows: State. On the basis of individual replies classified by State, the following percentages of cities report that they have school health services:

100 percent: All the New England and Middle Atlantic States, Delaware, District of Columbia, New Mexico, and Nevada.

90-99 percent: California (98.6), North Carolina (98.5), Oregon (97.0), Florida (96.8), Utah (95.6), Virginia (95.2), Arizona (93.7), Michigan (93.2), Ohio (93.1), Iowa (92.7), Washington (92.5), Illinois (91.7), Tennessee (91.6), Minnesota (90.5), Maryland (90.4), and Kentucky (90.3).

80-90 percent: West Virginia (89.7), Wisconsin (89.0), Nebraska (87.8), Indiana (87.3), Idaho (86.3), Mississippi (86.1), Louisiana (85.7), Colorado (85.1), South Dakota (84.2), Wyoming (83.3), Georgia (82.6), and Kansas (81.3).

Below 80 percent: South Carolina (79.5), Alabama (72.9), Texas (72.5), Montana (71.4), Oklahoma (70.3), North Dakota (66.6), Missouri (60.4), and Arkansas (52.1).

NOTE:-As most of the States (41) had 85 to 100 percent replies to the questionnaire, the above percentages would seem to represent close to the true situation. The States having less than 85 percent replies are as follows: Tennessee (84.2), Georgia (83.1), Alabama (81.3), Virginia (79.2), Louisiana (77.7), Mississippi (75.0), and Nevada (60.0).

Group I.-All the 93 cities in Group I, which comprises the cities with a population of 100,000 or more, replied and all reported that they had a school health service.

In studies conducted in 1930 and 1940, all the cities which replied also indicated that they had school health services. However, in 1930 only 49 of the 70 cities at that time in Group I replied and in 1940 only 71 of the 93 cities replied. Just how many of those cities which did not report actually had health services is not known. The 1950 study does show that all cities in this group now have some type of school health service.

Group II. Of the 259 cities in Group II, comprising cities with a population of 30,000 to 99,999, 253 replied to the first questionnaire. Of these cities, all except 2, or 99.2 percent, reported that they had school health services.

In 1930, of the 181 cities at that time in Group II, 112 replied; of the 112 cities, 101, or 90.0 percent, stated that they had health services. In 1940, of the 227 cities at that time in this group, 162 replied to the questionnaire; all but one of the 162 reported that they had health service. In seven of the nine geographical regions, 100 percent of the school systems in this second group reported health services. South Atlantic

with 97.0 percent and East North Central with 98.5 percent were the other regions.

Group III. Of the 724 cities in the third group, consisting of cities with populations of 10,000 to 29,999, 687 replied to the questionnaire. Of this number, all except 19, or 97.2 percent, reported that they had school health services.

In 1930, of the 514 cities in this group, 303, or 59.0 percent, replied, of which number, 252, or 83.2 percent, reported health services. In 1940, of the 665 school systems at that time in Group III, 497, or 74.7 percent, replied to the questionnaire. Of this number, 487, or 98.0 percent, reported health services in some stage of development.

Three of the nine regions-New England, Middle Atlantic, and Pacific-reported that all school systems in Group III had health services. Four other regions-East North Central, West North Central, South Atlantic, and Mountain-reported between 95 and 99 percent with health services. The remaining two regions are East South Central with 86.2 percent and West South Central with 85.5 percent.

Group IV.-There are 2,354 cities in Group IV, which includes the cities with populations of between 2,500 and 9,999. Of this number, 2,153, or 91.5 percent, replied to the questionnaire. Of those replying, 1,874, or 87.0 percent, reported that they had some type of school health service. Comparable figures for 1930 and 1940 are not available.

Only two regions-New England and Middle Atlantic-reported that 100 percent of their cities in Group IV had health services. The other seven regions ranged in percent as follows: Pacific (95.8), East North Central (88.2), South Atlantic (88.1), Mountain (85.3), East South Central (83.5), West North Central (75.9), and West South Central (65.1).

Regions. Two of the nine regions-New England and Middle Atlantic-report that all school systems have health services. The percentages of cities in the other seven regions having health services are, in descending order: Pacific (97.3), East North Central (91.5), South Atlantic (91.2), Mountain (88.3), East South Central (85.3), West North Central (81.4), and West South Central (71.0).

On the basis of city size, by regions, those reporting less than 90 percent are as follows:

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »