MORTALITY DUE TO TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN CHI LE DURING 1994 - AN EPIDEMIOLOGIC APPROACH

Background: Traffic accidents are one of the most important public hea lth problems in the world and produce social, work and human resources losses. Aim: To perform an epidemiological description of traffic acc idents occurred in Chile during 1994. Material and methods: Data were obtained from death certificates in which the cause of death was a tra ffic accident. All death certificates obtained by the National Institu te of Statistics during 1994 were used. Social, demographic and season al variables were recorded. Results: During 1994, there were 1679 deat hs due to traffic accidents (81% male), with a rate of 19.6 per 100,00 0 inhabitants. Gender specific risks were 19.62 and 4.48 for men and w omen, respectively. Mean age at the moment of death was 39 years old. Fifty three percent of deceased people were single, 42% married and 5% widowers. Ten percent had no formal education, 48% had basic educatio n, 23% college education and 6,5% university education. Seventy seven percent of fatalities occurred in urban areas. The risk of death by tr affic accidents was 7.02 per 100,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan r egion. Conclusions: The information obtained in the present study may help to generate preventive strategies to control deaths caused by tra ffic accidents.