[Avoidability of deaths from chronic illnesses in elderly individuals in São Paulo, Brazil]

Avoidable causes of death have become an important indicator for evaluating health services. Such deaths would not occur if there were adequate prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment and the adoption of appropriate technologies. This article analyzes the pattern and magnitude of avoidable causes of death for the principal causes of death among elderly individuals up to 74 years of age, by gender, in São Paulo State, Brazil. The study further estimated the impact of avoidable causes of death on life expectancy among the elderly, and 62.5% of the deaths among elderly up to 74 years in São Paulo were due to these causes. The principal avoidable causes of death constituted 82.6% of all avoidable deaths, featuring hypertensions and tobacco-associated tumors. Life expectancy at 60 would increase by 20% if these deaths were avoided. Male excess mortality was observed in nearly all of the avoidable causes of death analyzed here, which could be related to greater exposure to risk factors and less use of health services by men. Prevention and health promotion measures should take these sharp gender differences into account.