Sociodemographic characteristics and potential years of life lost because of motorcycle accidents in Brazil in 2019

Abstract

Introduction:  Road traffic accidents are among the ten leading causes of death worldwide, especially among young people. These deaths have an important socio-economic impact and need to be measured. One resource is the Potential Years of Life Lost (PYLL) indicator.

Objective:  To describe sociodemographic aspects and estimate the PYLL due to motorcycle accidents in Brazil.

Method:  Descriptive study of official secondary data, including deaths from motorcycle accidents in 2019. PYLL indicator and PYLL rate were calculated by sex, age group and regions.

Results:  In 2019, there were 11,182 deaths from motorcycle accidents, involving mainly men, singles, browns, aged 20 to 39 and having completed high school, mainly in the Northeast. The PYLL rate was 194.6 years lost/100,000 inhabitants, and the mortality rates ranged from 3.4 to 8.4 deaths/100,000 inhabitants. The proportion of fatalities was eight times higher in men than in women.

Conclusions:  The findings of this study reinforce that these accidents are an important problem with a preventable socioeconomic impact by promoting intersectoral actions and measures that are easy to perform and low cost.

Keywords: traffic accidents; mortality; potential years of life lost; motorcycles