Objective: To evaluate and compare the impact of some underlying causes of death on life expectancy of residents in two metropolitan areas.
Methods: It was carried out a cross-sectional descriptive ecological study based on official data (deaths and populations) and estimates of residents in the cities Salvador and São Paulo, Brazil, in 1996. The impact of different causes of death on life expectancy was evaluated by means of competitive risks and life tables.
Results: Life expectancy for males at birth in both cities (64.1 years in Salvador and 63.4 years in São Paulo) was lower than for females (70.3 years in Salvador and 73.9 years in São Paulo). Communicable diseases have a major impact on the mortality in the first years of age, external causes are very important especially for men in intermediate ages, and cardiovascular diseases have a main role in elderly. Ranked by decreasing importance, causes of death for males in both cities were cardiovascular diseases, external causes, neoplasms, respiratory diseases and infectious and parasitic diseases. For females, the most important were cardiovascular diseases, then neoplasms, respiratory diseases, infectious and parasitic diseases, and external causes.
Conclusions: The well-known social gap between the two capitals affects first the basic level, from availability and quality of public services to data provided by these services, which impair a more detailed analysis.