caderno de saúde pública

Cadernos de Saúde Pública
Print version ISSN 0102-311X
Cad. Saúde Pública vol.19 no.3 Rio de Janeiro June 2003 http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-311X2003000300010 ARTIGO ARTICLE Violência contra idosos: relevância para um velho problema Violence against the elderly: the relevance of an old health problem

Maria Cecília de Souza Minayo
Centro Latino-Americano de Estudos sobre Violência e Saúde, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Av. Brasil 4036, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21040-361 Brasil. E-mail: [e-mail]

ABSTRACT
This article presents data on morbidity and mortality due to "external causes" among the Brazilian elderly and a review of the Brazilian and international literature on the theme. The data refer to the period from 1980 to 1998. The main sources were the Mortality Information System (SIM) and the Hospital Information System of the Unified National Health System (SIH-SUS). The basic cause of death was evaluated according to the 9th Review of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD9) for 1980 to 1995 and based on the 10th Review since then. The Brazilian and international literature review was based on texts from MEDLINE, LILACS, and Informa. Accidents and violence are the 6th most common cause of death among individuals 60 years of age and older in Brazil. The majority of hospitalizations from external causes involve lesions from falls and injuries to older pedestrians by motor vehicles. However, violence against elderly Brazilians is more widespread and varied than this, as reflected by cases of physical, psychological, sexual, and financial abuse and neglect that fail to reach the health care system; rather, such cases are "taken for granted", seen as basically natural within the daily routine of family relations and various forms of social and public policy neglect.
Keywords: Violence; Aging Health; Health Services

RESUMO
Este artigo apresenta dados sobre mortalidade e morbidade