Mortality due to external causes is the second leading cause of death in Brazil. Few studies addressing this issue have been conducted in the Northeast of the country, or in Maranhão, state whose mortality rate due to external causes is one of the lowest in Brazil. This paper aims at examining trends in mortality due to external causes in São Luís, from 1980 to 1999 and verifying if this trend differs for those observed for the country as a whole and for other Brazilian cities. The external causes were surveyed in accordance to the 9th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) from 1980 to 1995 and the 10th revision was used from 1996 to 1999. Special coding was used to assure comparability between the two ICD revisions. Trend analysis was performed using a Poisson regression model. Mortality by external causes showed a significant overall reduction, for both sexes, and in the 0-9, 30-39 and 40-49 age groups. Mortality by transportation accidents, other accidents and unknown causes reduced significantly, whereas mortality by homicides and suicides showed a highly significant increase. This decreasing trend in mortality due to external causes is in agreement with recent observations made for the country as a whole, for the Americas and for the city of São Paulo.
External causes; Mortality; Violence; Homicides; Transport accidents; Time series analysis
