Mortality due to injuries in Maputo City, Mozambique

Records of all registered deaths due to injuries maintained by the Legal Medicine Department in Maputo City for the period 1 January to 31 December 2000 were reviewed. Among the 1135 registered deaths, road traffic injuries accounted for the most common underlying cause of death (43.7%), followed by firearm discharge (8.7%) and burns (7.8%). For all deaths, skull fracture (21.9%), organ system injury (17.2%) and brain tissue injury (9.3%) were the most important intermediate causes of death and among the immediate causes of death acute anaemia (21.9%) was the most common followed by asphyxia (14.4%) and traumatic shock (12.0%). Overall, most cases were seen in the age group 20-29 years (27.0%) and comprising mainly males (male/female ratio 3.1). The most commonly reported cause for the victims to sustain injuries leading to death were accidents (59.4%), followed by homicides (19.8%), unknown causes (16.1%) and suicides (4.2%). Prevention of road traffic injuries and improved emergency care and health facility-based treatment is needed to reduce injury-related mortality.