Abstract

MAGALHAES, Ana Paula Regazzi; PAIVA, Sálvea Campelo e; FERREIRA, Luiz Oscar Cardoso  and  AQUINO, Terezinha de Almeida. Mortality among elderly people in Recife, State of Pernambuco, Brazil: when death reveals inequalities. Epidemiol. Serv. Saúde [online]. 2011, vol.20, n.2, pp.183-192. ISSN 1679-4974.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5123/S1679-49742011000200007.

OBJECTIVE: the aim of the study was to characterize mortality among elderly people living in the City of Recife, State of Pernambuco, Brazil over the three-year period 2004-2006. METHODOLOGY: exploratory ecological study using data from the Mortality Information System (SIM) and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) foundation, and the Guimaraes classification to define strata. RESULTS: the higher risks were found among individuals who suffer from poor living conditions, as compared to those with better and good living conditions, regardless of sex, age group, underlying cause or place of occurrence; women and elderly people (60-69) also presented greater or lower risks, according to their living conditions; comparing different population groups, the risk for cardiovascular, respiratory and neoplastic disease was of 1.55, 1.58 and 1.13 respectively. CONCLUSION: considering the observed indicators, this study points out the need of interventions by public authorities focused on adults, in order to promote better living conditions and consequently to enable the general population to grow older with dignity.

Keywords : elderly people; mortality; inequality; living conditions.

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