Tuberculosis-related mortality in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, 1985-2004.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to describe tuberculosis-related mortality in Espírito Santo, Brazil, evaluating its tendencies in relation to clinical presentation, gender and age bracket.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective, descriptive study based on secondary data. For the 1985-2004 period, we investigated all deaths of residents of Espírito Santo in which tuberculosis was given as the underlying cause, as reported in the Brazilian National Mortality Database.

RESULTS

The adjusted mortality rates for all forms of tuberculosis paralleled the overall mortality rates in the state, decreasing from 5.6/100,000 inhabitants in 1985 to 2.0/100,000 inhabitants in 2004. Pulmonary tuberculosis was the predominant form of the disease (89.7% of tuberculosis-related deaths) throughout the period studied, and the male/female mortality rate ratio ranged from 1.1 in 1998 to 3.19 in 2004.

CONCLUSIONS

We observed a decrease in the mortality rates in all age brackets. Predominance of the pulmonary form, male gender and advanced age was similar to that of overall tuberculosis-related mortality in Brazil.