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

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.