Racial inequality in the mortality of adult women in Recife, 2001-2003

Abstract

Racial inequalities are effects of social exclusion, being influenced by prejudice and discrimination. The term race is used here meaning group identity or political perception of sharing a particular racial heritage, which builds a positive social self-esteem. The study aimed to characterize the mortality pattern of black and white adult women living in Recife, between 2001 and 2003. In this cross-sectional study, 2,943 deaths of women aged between 20 and 59 years were included, identified in the Mortality Information System of the National Health System (SUS), with race/skin color white or black (black + mestizo). Proportional mortality, mortality rates and ratios were obtained. The risk of dying was 1.7 times higher for black women compared to whites. Black women had higher risk of death in all age groups and higher proportion of deaths in public hospitals, of women who did not have a partner (single, widow or separated), who were housewives or worked as domestic servants, and who were less educated. Regarding the underlying causes, black women had a higher mortality rate for all chapters of the International Classification of Diseases and for specific causes of death, except for neoplasm in women aged 20 to 29 years and for breast cancer in women aged 30 to 39 and 50 to 59 years. As age decreases, a large difference between black and white women was found in the risk of deaths caused by external causes. Among black women, there was an increase in the risk of dying due to homicides, motor vehicle accidents, ischemic heart diseases, cerebral vascular and hypertensive diseases, diabetes, and tuberculosis. The findings showed inequality in health, with disadvantages for the black women, which are the expression of human rights violation that challenges social rise and the access to decent health conditions.