Youth mortality: 1930-1991 period analysis (the epidemiological transition to violence)

Abstract

Youth (15 to 24 years old) mortality in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and S. Paulo from 1930 to 1991 is studied. The objective is the recovery of historical data covering the period from the third decade of this century up to the present so as to evaluate mortality profile changes based on causes of death and to compare them with international indicators. Results show that S. Paulo experienced a rapid decline in the death rate for the group up to 1970, as also happened in Rio de Janeiro city up to 1980. This latter city has always shown highter mortality rates. However, during the past decade a higher proportion of deaths occurred in S. Paulo resulting in closer mortality curves. Young people 's mortality rates are not no longer decreasing. The rising tendency is accounted on male mortality increase. Infectious diseases, primarily tuberculosis, were responsible for the highest rates during the first decades studied, up to the fifties. After 1960 a transition took place and violent deaths, such as accidents and homicide, became the leading causes. Besides them, depending on the period analysed, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory infection and, later on, AIDS came to occupy a prominent position.