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Age- and sex-specific analysis of homicide mortality as a function of economic development: A cross-national comparison

Division of Public Health Sciences, Department for Social Sciences, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden, syed.moniruzzaman{at}kau.se, Division of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Ragnar Andersson

Division of Public Health Sciences, Department for Social Sciences, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden

Aims: This study examined the association between homicide rates and GNP per capita (as a measure of economic development) among all age- and sex-specific groups in 53 countries. Methods: Cross-sectional data on homicide rates by age- and sex- specific groups were obtained for 53 countries from World Health Statistics Annual 1996. The association between homicide rates and economic development was studied by using two methods: (1) with regression analysis and (2) by categorizing the data into four income-based country groups and then comparing the differences in their mean values. Results: Results indicate that there was a negative correlation between homicide rates and economic development. The association between homicide rates and country GNP per capita became stronger with increasing age. Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient was strongest among older age groups (65+year) in both sexes (male, r=-0.77 and female, r=-0.71). The correlation was weakest and positive among 1- to 4-year-old children (males, r=0.17 and females, r=0.07). The homicide rate among females was highest for <1-year-old children in low income countries (LICs) (12.8 per 100,000). Conclusions: Lower middle-income countries are in the stage of high priority where both homicide rates and homicide as percentage of total death are high, and its impact was greatest for young males. However, infanticide as a public health problem seems highly concentrated in the poorest countries, while homicide among small children, 1—4 years old, appears to be a universal phenomenon across all nations.

Key Words: Economic development • GNP per capita • homicide • injury • mortality • violence

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 33, No. 6, 464-471 (2005)
DOI: 10.1080/14034940510006021


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