Objective:

An ecological study was carried out on the mortality due to diarrheal diseases in Costa Rica, with the purpose of providing evidence on inequities in health and social determination.

Material and methods:

We estimated the relative risk of dying from diarrhea standardized by age (from the year 2008 to 2013) and maps were constructed. Spatial correlations were observed between the mortality from diarrhea, socio-economic factors (as Gini) and the quality of the environmental health (measured through a synthetic multifactorial indicator).

Results:

We identified the spatial trend of increasing the risk of dying from diarrhea toward the territories outside the metropolitan area, coastal and border, coinciding with the areas of worst socio-economic and environmental condition of the country.

Conclusions:

The It observed inequalities in mortality from diarrhea, which can be explained from the environmental conditions.