THE FIT AND THE UNFIT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 98, 20 January 1919, Page 6

THE FIT AND THE UNFIT

MORE ABOUT THE RECRUITS

WHY MEN WERE REJECTED

Attention has been drawn already to the value of the information that has been gathered by the Defence Department in tho course of recruiting during the war, period. Moro than 200,000 men have passed through the haixls of medical officers, and the records of their physical condition are available for classification and study. Tho facts that have been gathered throw- a great deal of light upon the health of tho-.people of New Zealand. They -ought to receive the closest possible examination by experts in order that remedies may be found, if possible, fur the weaknesses, that have been revealed. / '

Some of the. facts about the health of the men of New Zealand are made clear in statistics that have been prepared by the medical branch of the Defence Department. The branch has prepared an "analysis of the results of the medical examination of reservists drawn in the ballot" up to the completion of the First Division ballots. This analysis deals with 71.177 men. The actual number of First Division reservists drawn in the ballots was 80.083. n."d it nppearsthat. of those fewer than 70,000_ were producer for medical examination. The wimbor struck off'as aliens, dead, absent from New inland, in prison, and so forth was 7720. and'f.oroe other men escaped examination owing to. appeals having been allowed. ■ The apparent discrepancy seems to he due to the fact f.liat tho medical branch has included in its. returns volnnteTs ' who had not ibe"' l drawn in the ballot.. Tho medical;classifications were as follow:— - ' _ . A—Fit for/active service. B1 —Fit for active service,. after treatment in camp or hospital B2 —Fit for active service after .treat-. , input and recovery at home. 'Cl—Likely to become fit for active service after special training. C2—Unfit for active service, but fit . for service in New Zealand in conr neefwn with the war. ' D —Unfit'for anv service #t all. • The 71,177 men mentioned above were classified as follow in the four /military districts:— 1 Wgtn. . Auck. A 8)910 ■ 6,767 \ B1 272 69 . B2 ... 771 303 CI ' 692 753 C 2 12,395 9,947 D 1,561 274 Totals -24,601 18,113 Cant. Otac.o. ■ A ...... 5,512 4.193 PI . . 205 108 B2 ............. 300 267 CI .: 467 349 . C 2 9,543 "6,661 D 595 263 Totals ... 16,622 11,841 Dominion Totals. A 25,382 , B1 : 654 ' B2 1,641 . CI 2,261 • C 2 '38,546 1 D - 2,693 , - , Total 71,177^ The following table shows tho medical classification of the reservists who were rejected from Group A (fit for active service)." It. includes men who wore classed 81, 132, CIJ C 2, and D. The figures deal still with 45,796 men who failed' to pass Fit A during the medical examination of the '71,177. reservists dealt with in the figures already quoted:— a h

Buro ; Insutticicnt

■ bago 539 298 oM 116 1144 Alcoholic > 5 93 M 26 , 156 Not classified . 982 1293 28J 299 2853'

Totals ...... 11,347 15,63111,110 7,648 45,796 The' interest and importance* of these figures are exceedingly great. The returns: reveal conditions that obviously require investigation and that may 1)6 capable of improvement. The figures emphasise ' the point niado by The Dominion in an earlier article, that 'the information gathered in the course of the recruiting campaign ought to bo classified and studied as fully as possible. ' The Medical Branch, which has begun the work well, should not Jiesitate to avail itself of all the. assistance that may be obtainable from other branches in order to got final and comprehensive figures. The returns given above are based upon original examinations. They do not show the results .of the re-examinatione of the C 2 Medical Board on the ono hand and the rejections from the camps on tho other hand. The original medical classification was changed subsequently in many thousands' of cases, and though those changes would not always affect tho issue materially from the medical point of view it is highly desirable that they should be traced in tho records. Juet which branch does tbe work is not a matter of moment.

The Medical Branch is engaged now in the compilation of returns relating to the reservists examined by the medical boards after the closo of tho First Division ballots. Th'e Second .Djvi•sion men called by ballot comprised 13,466 of Class A (no children), 17,507 of Class B (one child), and 23,576 of Class C (two children). During tho Bame period many thousands of 'First Division 19 and 20-year-old youtbe wore examined.

■t s s . 5 .to a ' • 5 0 5i ,» | -1 | si i R fc* rt -w c -<! P o O • fn Defects of upper extremities 463 463 325 ■ 221 1491 Defects of lower . extremities ... 1187 1204 1072 643 4106 •0nder height . 179 111.-, 115 .78 481 Under chest meaBuro 676 85 77 141 '879 Insufficient weight 16 18 4 12 50 Overheight .... 0 2 7 2 11 Syphilis .17 37 „ 54 41 149 Otner venereal . disease • 13 13 > 38 13 77 Tubercle of lung 124 4»o 197 138 954 Other . tubercular disease ... 20 '76 53 45 , 194' Impaired consti- . tution and debility 316 628 421 249 1614 Other general | diseases 67 30 31 44 172 Malformation of < chest and spine 142 189 206 109 644 Impediment of I speech 31 .39 61 33 164 Other diseases of nervous system-153 ' 170 191 164 678 Defective intelligence 156 ■' 235 206 175 772 Detective vision 978 1274 711 . 594 35sV Jiar disease and deafness 341 477 311 246 1375 Valvular diseases of heart 734 2894 1234 .1240 6102 Other diseases of heart ..v.......... '592 839 415 211 2057 Diseases of veins 482 684 726 460 2J5Z Diseases of lungs (except tuberole) 74 102 146 > 99 ' 421 Other respiratory diseases 303 369' '230 213 1055 Hernia ;.. '483 761 609 384 2237 Loss or decay of many teeth 1 1 2 13 17 Diseases of di-. gostive system 178 215 210 175 770 Haemorrhoids : 8l 62 161 79 383 Diseases of urinary • organs 86 101 74 > 58 319 Varicocele 117 221 282 125 74it Disoates : of joints 2C0 235 251 140 826 Flat feet 626 634 679 292 2131 Other affections of bones and muscles ....... 192 146 122 80 540 Ulcer6, wounds & oicatrices 117 109 132 56 414 Other affections of cutaneous system > 139 211 145 105 600 Goitre 25 85 309 142 561 Epilepsy 107 129 . 123 75 434 Over age 543 567 248 178 1536 Rheumatism, sciatica and lum-