title: Asthma mortality in southern Brazil: is there a changing trend?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mortality from asthma increased during the last decades but is now declining in some countries. Little is known about this trend in Brazil.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the study was to determine the trends in asthma mortality in Southern Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed death certificates of 566 people in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, between 5 and 39 years of age in whom asthma was reported to be the underlying cause of death during the period of 1981-2003. Population data were available in 5-year age groups. Mortality rates were submitted to linear and quadratic regression procedures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among children and teenagers (5-19 years), there were 170 asthma deaths, ranging from 4 to 13 deaths each year with rates of 0.154/100,000 to 0.481/100,000. In young adults (20-39 years), 396 asthma deaths occurred, ranging from 9 to 32 each year, with rates from 0.276/100,000 to 1.034/100,000. There was an initial increase in rates, with later stabilization, and then the start of a decline beginning in the late 1990s and the early part of this decade. This trend occurred in both age subgroups examined but was more evident in males.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Asthma mortality in southern Brazil remains low and appears to be decreasing after reaching a peak in the mid-1990s. The reason for these trends remains unknown.
authors: School of Medicine, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre RS 90610-000.
authors: Gustavo
authors: G
authors: Chatkin
authors: Jose Miguel
authors: JM
authors: Chatkin
authors: Carlos Cezar
authors: CC
authors: Fritscher
authors: Daniela
authors: D
authors: Cavalet-Blanco
authors: Helio Radke
authors: HR
authors: Bittencourt
authors: Malcolm R
authors: MR
authors: Sears
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000401:mortality*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends; D012189:Retrospective Studies