High-risk space-time clusters of mortality in children 5 to 14 years of age in Mato Grosso state, Brazil

Abstract

The study aimed to detect high-risk areas for deaths of children and adolescents 5 to 14 years of age in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, from 2009 to 2020. This was an exploratory ecological study with municipalities as the units of analysis. Considering mortality data from the Mortality Information System (SIM) and demographic data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the study used multivariate statistics to identify space-time clusters of excess mortality risk in this age group. From 5 to 9 years of age, two clusters with high mortality risk were detected; the most likely located in the state’s southern mesoregion (RR: 1.6; LRT: 8,53). Among the 5 clusters detected in the 10-14-year age group, the main cluster was in the state’s northern mesoregion (RR: 2,26; LRT: 7,84). A reduction in mortality rates was observed in the younger age group and an increase in these rates in the older group. The identification of these clusters, whose analysis merits replication in other parts of Brazil, is the initial stage in the investigation of possible factors associated with morbidity and mortality in this group, still insufficiently explored, and for planning adequate interventions.