This is a descriptive study that aimed to analyze the mortality among elderly persons by external causes and the death profile of this age in Minas Gerais, Brazil, from 1999 to 2008. The data were obtained from the Mortality Information System and from the Department of Informatics of the Ministry of Health. The results showed increasing mortality coefficients in elderly people during the years studied. The falls and transport accidents stood out as major causes of deaths. The results also showed increasing rates of homicides and suicides, especially in elderly males. Immediate preventive measures are necessary, since the elderly people are becoming increasingly subject to deaths from external causes.
Geriatric Nursing; Aged; Mortality; External Causes; Information Systems
