Trends in injury-related deaths before and after dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

The relationship of death rates due to injury with the dissolution of the Soviet empire deserves special focus because of the impact of injury deaths on the productive working population between the ages of 15 and 65 years. A retrospective review was performed of annual mortality rates due to intentional and unintentional injuries, using WHO data from 1980 to 2003. Using data from a comparison group in Western Europe, the nations of the former …