The 2008 Global Burden of Disease study in Brazil: a new methodological approach for estimation of injury morbidity.

OBJECTIVE To present the methodological approach used to estimate injury morbidity (Years Lived with Disability, YLD) in the 2008 Global Burden of Disease study in Brazil (GBD-Br). METHODS YLD was based on the admission rate for injuries from both public and private sector facilities. Morbidity arising from emergency room (ER) visits was estimated using logistic regression models of the likelihood of hospitalization for different types of injuries, controlling for sex, age and geographic region. Data was obtained from the Mortality Information System, the Hospitalization Information System of the Unified Health System and the 2009 survey for the Surveillance System for Violence and Accidents (VIVA). RESULTS Injuries accounted for 10.0% of the total burden of disease in Brazil in 2008, corresponding to 19 years of life lost per 100 000 inhabitants. YLD accounted for 10% of total years of life lost. CONCLUSIONS This approach represents a methodological advance, particularly due to the inclusion of the VIVA survey, which provides a more reliable measurement of the burden of injury in Brazil than other sources.