Health and the Urban Environment

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Abstract
A longitudinal study of Manhattan residents involving weekly observations of a set of acute symptoms (1) showed some surprising results concerning the burden of minor illness that these people experienced. The average length of illness was one week. Persons were ill (had symptoms) from none to 90 per cent of the time; adults who were ill at any time during the study reported illness at an average of 25 per cent of the time whereas children were ill at an average of 60 per cent of the time. Duration of illness varied from one type of illness to another and from one person or group to another, with very few illnesses lasting more than 6 weeks. Duration of illness varied directly with the number of symptoms present. Average durations, as well as incidence rates, varied with age, approximating the J-shaped mortality curve. Females had higher rates and longer durations of illness than males, and whites had higher rates than Negroes or Puerto Ricans, although Puerto Ricans usually reported longer illnesses than...

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