It is only natural that among this element the proportion rejected on 

 account of venereal disease and alcoholism should be relatively high, 

 for the statistics of the Surgeon General's office in this respect are 

 in marked contrast to the results of the very limited analysis of the 

 causes of rejections which has thus far been made by the Provost- 

 Marshal General's office. * 



COMPARATIVE REJECTION STATISTICS OF LIFE INSUR- 

 ANCE EXPERIENCE 



Attempts have been made to compare the ratio of rejections in 

 ordinary life insurance experience with the rejection rate in the United 

 States Army previously to the war. All such comparisons are seriously 

 misleading and absolutely useless for practical purposes. The army 

 rejections include a large proportion of physical causes which do not 

 constitute a serious impairment in its relation to life expectancy. Rejec- 

 tions for life insurance are exceptionally severe with reference to 

 habits, as best illustrated by the fact that in the experience of The 

 Prudential during 1911-15 the rejections on account of alcoholism 

 were 12.7 per 1,000 examined, against 3.7 for the United States Army 

 during the same period. In contrast, rejections for venereal diseases 

 are relatively low in life insurance experience, largely, of course, on 

 account of the fact that the class or element most subject thereto is 

 not knowingly solicited for life insurance purposes. In the Prudential 

 experience the rejection rate on account of venereal diseases was only 

 1.1 per 1,000 examined, against 12.5 for the United States Army. On 

 account of the exceptional care exercised in life insurance examinations 

 with reference to the condition of the heart and of the urinary organs 

 the rejection rate for this group of impairments is much higher. In 

 the Prudential experience the rejection rate for heart diseases was 

 25.1 per 1,000, against 10.2 for the United States Army, for respira- 

 tory diseases 12.7, against 2.9, and for diseases of the genito-urinary 

 system 18.6, against 2.8. Combining these three groups of organic im- 

 pairments it appears that against a rejection rate of 56.4 per 1,000 on 

 account of diseases of the heart, the respiratory organs and the urinary 

 system in the Ordinary experience of The Prudential, the corresponding 

 rejection rate in the United States Army was only 15.9. 



The most important causes of rejection in the United States Army 

 are relatively uncommon in the experience of a representative life 

 insurance company. The most important of these causes, with a due 

 regard to the higher average age of insurance applicants, are as follows : 



Weakness of mind, Prudential, 0.4, U. S. Army, 1.7; varicose veins, 

 Prudential, 0.1, U. S. Army, 1.6; hernia, Prudential, 0.1, U. S. Army, 



* This rule would seem to indicate that upon the medical ascertainment of a single mental 

 or physical disqualification for military service, no further medical examination is made 

 of the registrant who is unconditionally rejected. The resulting statistics therefore require 

 to be interpreted with extreme caution, since many important mental and physical defects 

 would no doubt be ascertained by a complete examination which apparently is made only 

 in the case of registrants considered eligible for qualified or unconditional acceptance. 



92 



