HOMICIDE MORTALITY ON THE ISLAND OF SÃO LUÍS DO MARANHÃO, BRAZIL: AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

In Brazil, in 2020, the number of violent deaths from intentional causes (intentional homicides, robbery and bodily harm followed by death) was accounted for at 44,118 deaths. In Maranhão, in 2021, the Violence Monitor recorded 1,915 violent deaths, with a rate of 26.8 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. The phenomenon of violence directly impacts health services due to the demands generated by physical injuries and their sequelae and the negative impacts on collective and individual mental health. The study of violent deaths, especially homicide, portrays the national panorama that shows a population subject and author of violence itself. Objective: To epidemiologically analyze the types of violent deaths that occurred during the year 2021 on the Island of São Luís do Maranhão, Brazil. Methodology: The present work was an observational, cross-sectional, descriptive and retrospective study. Data were collected at the Instituto Médico Legal (IML) of São Luís - Maranhão, through autopsy reports produced in the year 2021. 377 autopsy reports referring to homicides occurred in the year 2021 were counted. Results: Of the 377 reports included in the sample, 93.4% of the victims were male, 6.6% female; 77.5% were brown; 50.7% with up to high school; 54.9% single; mostly residents of and coming from the state capital (66.8% and 78.8%, respectively), bricklayers and self-employed (13% and 11.7%, respectively). Most deaths occurred between dawn and early morning (21:00 - 05:59). The month with the highest occurrence was January (24.4%). Firearms were used in 81.4% of deaths. Hypovolemic shock was the most incident cause of death (52.0%). In 68.97% of the cases, the victim died at the scene and, in 31.03%, at some level of health services. Conclusion: The sample consisted mainly of men, single, brown, with a median age of 31 years and education of up to high school. Most of the victims were bricklayers and self-employed, largely victimized in the municipality of São Luís. The neighborhoods with the highest incidence were Cidade Olímpica and Coroadinho (12 homicides). The main means of perpetration of their deaths was firearms. They were victims with at least one injury, which had a higher prevalence in the regions of the skull, chest, upper limbs and abdomen. Most victims died at the scene of the aggression, victims of hypovolemic shock. Most of the homicides took place in the early hours of the morning and were evenly distributed throughout the week. The months in which they took place refer to the June and Carnival festivities and the period of Christmas and New Year's celebrations.