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.