Homicide mortality in Peru: Analysis of socio-geographic inequality and its social determinants

Introduction: Homicide is the highest manifestation of interpersonal violence and the main preventable cause of death. Objective: To identify the sociogeographic determinants related to homicide deaths in the Peruvian population. Material and Methods: Observational and ecological study in a universe consisting of 26 subnational territories. No sample was used. The dependent variable was homicide mortality in 2021. The Kuznets indexes (absolute [aKI] and relative [rKI]), slope inequality index (SII), and inequality concentration index (ICI) were calculated. Results: Crude homicide mortality rates ranged from 0.232 to 25.301 deaths per 100, 000 inhabitants. In addition, 50% of the territories had rates below 4.42 deaths per 100, 000 inhabitants. The percentage of the population aged 15 to 29 years that neither studies nor works (p=0.014), the average income from work (p=0.015), the rate of the population in monetary poverty (p=0.019), and the percentage of households with access to electricity (p=0.025) were correlated with homicide mortality. The percentage of the population aged 15 to 29 years that neither studies nor works determined the highest inequality (aKI= 3.20 per 100, 000; rIK= 2.46; SII= 3.26 per 100, 000; ICI= 0.126). Conclusions: The percentage of population aged 15 to 29 years that neither studies nor works in territories with better socioeconomic levels might be a determinant of sociogeographic inequality in Peru’s homicide mortality rate.