Mortality of Bolivian immigrants in São Paulo, Brazil: analysis of avoidable causes

Abstract The objective was to analyze the mortality of Bolivian immigrants compared to the Brazilian population, living in the city of São Paulo, with an emphasis on the analysis of avoidable deaths. Descriptive study of deaths in the city of São Paulo, between 2007 and 2018, registered in the Mortality Information System. Deaths of people aged 5 to 74 years were analyzed, according to “Brazilian List of Causes of Preventable Deaths”, according to groups and sex; Pearson’s chi-square test was used to compare nationalities. The temporal trend of avoidable deaths was evaluated by Prais-Winsten regression. There were 1.123 Bolivians deaths and 883.116 among Brazilians, with a predominance of male deaths and the Bolivians died on average 13.6 years younger. The proportion of deaths from preventable causes was similar between Bolivians (71.0%) and Brazilians (72.8%) and the trend did not show significant proportional annual variation for both nationalities. There is a higher frequency, among Bolivians, of external causes (27.6%) and of causes reducible by actions to health promotion, prevention, control, and care for infectious diseases (20.8%) than to Brazilians. Conclusion: Bolivians died younger and showed no reduction in the proportion of potentially avoidable causes, which may indicate unequal access to health services.