Objective:

to determine the inequalities in mortality due to specific causes related to socioeconomic characteristics in the municipalities of the Huila department, Colombia between 2009 and 2013.

Methodology:

an ecological study comparing mortality rates due to acute respiratory infection, stomach cancer, hypertensive and cerebrovascular disease, traffic accidents, homicide, diabetes and childhood mortality based on socioeconomic status according to the following socioeconomic variables: secondary education coverage, unsatisfied basic needs, rurality, economic sufficiency, municipality’s added value and water quality index. The study included the 37 municipalities of the Huila department. Age-adjusted rates were calculated using the direct method and the inequalities were measured by comparing against the described variables using rank, regression and disproportionality based measures. The Epidat 4.0 software was used for this purpose.

Results:

child mortality and mortality due to gastric cancer and hypertensive disease showed constant inequality regarding the assessed socioeconomic variables in the less favored municipalities. As for mortality due to acute respiratory infections and homicides, higher rates were observed in municipalities with better socioeconomic conditions.

Conclusions:

there is great variability in the socioeconomic conditions of the municipalities and the mortality rates due to the assessed events. The authors observed an acceptable correlation between the different measures of inequality used in the study.

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