Introduction:

Injuries due to external causes are one of the main worldwide public health problems. The standardized methodology to evaluate burden diseases through the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) allows us to know the health condition in a population and prioritize actions.

Objective:

To determine the burden of disease in terms of disability and death as consequence of injuries due to external causes in Bucaramanga, 2017.

Methodology:

Descriptive study was conducted. The DALYs produced by injuries due to external causes were estimated using information from the National Administrative Department of Statistics, the National Public Health Surveillance System and the Individual Registry of Service Provision of Health databases from 2017 for the city of Bucaramanga, Colombia.

Results:

The global burden of diseases due to external causes was estimated at 12.04 DALYs per 1000 inhabitants; 0.51 DALYs were attributed to disability and 11.53 DALYs to mortality. Assaults and road traffic accident injuries (RTAI) were the main external causes with higher DALYs. In the population between 5 and 59 years old, assaults and RTAI had the highest DALYs attributed to mortality. RTAI were the first external cause of DALYSs in the population between 60 and 79 years old, and the second cause in the population older than 80 years.

Conclusion:

Considering that RTAI was the external cause with the highest DALYs attributed to premature mortality, it is recommended to implement or intensify high-impact strategies to reduce RTAI.