ABSTRACT Brazilian mortality statistics from 1980 showed that 12% of deaths had an external cause as an underlying cause and that 30% of these were traffic accidents. Brazil's mortality rates due to traffic accidents are consistently higher than those of other countries. The aim of this paper is to present the data and analyze trends for mortality due to traffic accidents for Brazil as a whole and for state capitals specifically. Mortality rates (crude and standardized) were calculated by sex, as was proportional mortality due to external causes and traffic accidents from 1978 to 1989. The results show that death rates and absolute figures have been increasing in Brazil for both genders and various age brackets. In terms of proportional mortality, traffic accidents represent 30% of external causes of death. In most Brazilian state capitals, mortality due to traffic accidents comprises nearly half of the deaths from external causes. Standardized mortality rates are frequently higher than 20 per 100,000 inhabitants. This figure is higher than in developed countries. From 1978 to 1989, there was an upward trend in mortality rates in Porto Velho, Rio Branco, Recife, Maceió, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Campo Grande, Cuiabá, Goiânia, and Distrito Federal. In Manaus, Macapá, Natal, Teresina, Belo Horizonte, Vitória, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo the mortality rate remained stable. In the remaining six state capitals there was a downward trend. The conclusion is that mortality from traffic accidents continues to be a major public health problem in Brazil.
Traffic Accidents; Mortality; External Causes; Epidemiology
