Injury control in Honduras: A survey of injury mortality

Study objective: We sought to evaluate the methods and accuracy of mortalit y data collection and summarize the injury mortality rate in one sector of the State of Olancho, Honduras, with the intent to establish a baseline of injury mortality that will identify potential areas of intervention and ser ve as a comparison after subsequent interventions. Methods: Mortality data were collected from a rural, regional, health cente r database containing age, sex, and cause of death for one geographic secto r in the State of Olancho, Honduras. Causes of death were classified as med ical or intentional versus nonintentional injury. Results: Accurate mortality data were difficult to obtain for several reaso ns: (1) deaths are often recorded by untrained health care workers, (2) cau ses of death are not coded in a standard manner, and (3) infant mortality i s underreported. We found 132 recorded noninfant deaths. A disproportionate number of these resulted from injury, especially from intentional injury, particularly among male subjects aged 12 to 49 years. Eighty-two percent of male subjects aged 12 to 49 years who died did so from injuries, and 52% d ied from intentional injuries. Overall, 48% of all male deaths were injury related. The estimated male mortality rate (age 12 to 49 years) from injuri es was 4.5 times that of the United States. Conclusion: Injury, particularly intentional injury, is an important cause of mortality in rural Honduras, particularly among male subjects aged 12 to 49 years. This suggests a fertile opportunity for intervention. More relia ble data collection will be necessary to accurately target which specific c auses of injury death are most amenable to interventions and to monitor the effect of injury control programs.