Abstract

CARDONA ARANGO, Doris. External-cause mortality in Medellín, 1999-2006. Pap. poblac [online]. 2008, vol.14, n.56, pp.233-256. ISSN 2448-7147.

Characterizing the behavior of mortality by external causes in the City of Medellin, Colombia, between 1999-2006, according to gender, age and basic cause of death was the objective of this longitudinal descriptive study, with secondary information source from 22128 registrations of external-cause casualties. The performed analysis is uni-varied and bi-varied by gender, age groups and causes of death. The external causes registered in the period were: 72.9 percent homicide; 15.3 percent, transportation accident; 7.3 percent, traumatisms; 4.2 percent, suicide; and 0.4 percent, other causes. The highest mortality rate was found in the 20-24 years of age group (27.6 per thousand inhabitants), a fact that deserves especial attention because of the social, familial and labor implications a casualty has in productive stages.

Keywords : mortality; death risk; homicides; Medellin.