The aim was to analyze the association between risk of death from assault in young males and socio-demographic characteristics in Brazilian municipalities. In this ecological study, the units of analysis were the 1,651 municipalities of Brazil with more than 20,000 inhabitants. Data were obtained from the Brazilian Mortality Information System (SIM) and indicators were obtained from the 2010 Population Census and Human Development Atlas. Mortality rate ratios were estimated by a negative binomial regression model. From 2010 to 2014, a total of 127,137 deaths from assault were reported in young males 15 to 29 years of age. Corrected mortality rate was 133.3/100 thousand inhabitants for the set of municipalities (median 71.5/100 thousand inhabitants). The rate increased with the municipalities’ population size. In the adjusted model, higher rates ratios were observed in the more urbanized municipalities (1.95; 95%CI: 1.70-2.23), in intermediate categories of income inequality (1.10; 95%CI: 1.01-1.20) and poverty rate (1.69; 95%CI: 1.51-1.89), with lower proportion of youth attending Secondary School (2.05; 95%CI: 1.83-2.30), with higher proportion of unemployed youth 18 to 24 years of age (1.27; 95%CI: 1.16-1.40), and with more women than men (1.28; 95%CI: 1.05-1.58). Mortality from assault was high in young Brazilian men, especially in larger and more urbanized municipalities and those with a higher proportion of youth looking for work and not attending secondary school. The results show the relevance of social policies for dealing with violence against youth.
Homicide; Violence; Health Inequalities; Men
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