Ensino e pesquisa

Resumo:

Objective: To describe trends in the mortality of children aged 12-60 months and to perfom spatial data analysis of its distribution at the inner city district level in São Paulo from 1980 to 1998. Methods: Official mortality data were analysed in relation to the underlying causes of death. The population of children aged 12-60 months, disaggregated by sex and age, was estimated for each year. Educational levels, income, employment status, and other socioeconomic indices were also assessed. Statistical Package for Social Sciences software was used fir tge statistical processing of time series. Conclusion The overall mortality rate among children aged 12-60 months dropped by almost 30 per cent during the study period. Most of the decline happened during the 1980s. Many people still live in a state of deprivation in underserved areas. Time-series and spatial data analysis provided indications of potential value in the planning of social policies promoting well-being, through the identification of factors affecting child survival and the regions with the worst health profiles, to which programmes and resources should be preferentially directed.