Homicide death in adolescents: characteristics and circumstances. Buenos Aires Province (Argentina)

Mortality during adolescence is usually low if compared with mortality in extreme ages. However, it represents an important issue in health public agendas (OPS, 2010). In Argentina, while the overall mortality rate is 78.4 per ten thousand inhabitants, in 10-19 population is 5.3 per ten thousand inhabitants. However, deaths in this age group have features that make its study relevant. More than half of the deaths are caused by external causes, with significant differences by sex in male disadvantage. These cases of death are of particular interest to the extent that are avoidable or likely to be reduced.
The aim of this paper is to describe and analyze the characteristics and circumstances of homicide mortality in 10-19 population in Buenos Aires Province. This province was selected because it concentrates nearly a third of all teenage deaths. Homicide mortality in adolescence has not been frequently studied in Argentina, possibly because of its low incidence.