Does economic level similarly matter for injury mortality in the OECD and non-OECD countries?

Abstract

The study investigates the impact of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita on cause-specific injury mortality, distinguishing between organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) and non-OECD countries. Four cause-specific injuries are considered: motor vehicle traffic crash (MTC), accidental falls, suicide and self-inflicted injury, and homicide and injury purposely inflicted by other persons. Mortality per 100,000 members of the population aged 25–64 years is computed for males and females separately (period 1996–1997). A year dummy is used to take into account unobserved events between 1996 and 1997. In the non-OECD countries, there is a negative relation between GDP per capita and both MTC and homicide mortality for both males and females. In the OECD countries, GDP per capita is associated positively with suicide for both sexes. The cause MTC is positively while that of accidental falls is negatively correlated among males among the OECD countries. In sum, the relation between GDP per capita and injury mortality tends to be diagnosis-specific, and is not exactly the same in the OECD and non-OECD countries. Relations, when found, are mostly for both genders.