YOUTH MORTALITY - 1930-1991 PERIOD ANALYS IS (THE EPIDEMIOLOGIC TRANSITION TO VIOLENCE)

Youth (15 to 24 years old) mortality in the cities of Rio de Janeiro a nd S. Paulo from 1930 to 1991 is studied. The objective is the recover y of historical data covering the period from the third decade of this century up to the present so as to evaluate mortality profile changes based an causes of death and to compare them with international indic ators. Results show that S. Paulo experienced a rapid decline in the d eath rate for the group Icp to 1970, as also happened in Rio de Janeir o city up to 1980. This latter city has always shown higher mortality rates. However, during the past decade a higher proportion of deaths o ccurred in S. Paulo resulting in closer mortality curves. Young people 's mortality rates are not no longer decreasing. The rising tendency i s accounted on male mortality increase. Infectious diseases, primarily tuberculosis, were responsible for the highest rates during the first decades studied, up to the fifties. After 1960 a transition took plac e and violent deaths, such as accidents and homicide, became the leadi ng causes. Besides them, depending on the period analysed cardiovascul ar diseases, respiratory infection and, later on, AIDS came to occupy a prominent position.