Risk behaviours and mortality among young Portuguese

Abstract

This study of mortality in Portugal in the last 40 years of the twentieth century seeks to establish the differences between men and women in relation to death, and to identify the behaviours which explain the proportionally higher death rate among men. This trend has been increasing steadily over time, and over an increasing number of years of age, to the extent that young males, from the age of sixteen onwards, no longer fit the «force» of mortality model which applies for other age groups. The article discusses the possible influence of drug consumption and establishes a correlation between road accidents and mortality. It concludes that this factor alone accounts for a significant part of gender-based differences in mortality rates.