We aim to describe the role of educational inequalities, for sex and age groups, in adult tuberculosis (TB) mortality in Colombia, 1999-2017. We linked mortality data to data estimation of the national population based on censuses and surveys to obtain primary, secondary, and tertiary adult (25+ years of age) age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR) by educational level. Thus, a population-based study was conducted using national secondary mortality data between 1999 and 2017. Tuberculosis age-standardized mortality rates were calculated separately by educational level, sex, and age groups, using Poisson regression models. Educational relative inequalities in adult mortality were evaluated by calculating the rate ratio, and the relative index of inequality (RII). Trends and joinpoints were evaluated by annual percentage change (APC). We found that, out of the 19,720 TB deaths reported, 69% occurred in men, and 45% in older adults (men and women, aged 65+). Men presented higher TB mortality rates than women (ASMR men = 7.1/100,000 inhabitants, ASMR women = 2.7/100,000 inhabitants). As mortality was consistently higher in the lowest educational level for both sexes and all age groups, inequalities in TB mortality were found to be high (RII = 9.7 and 13.4 among men and women, respectively) and growing at an annual rate of 8% and 1%. High and increasing inequalities, regarding educational level, in TB mortality in Colombia suggest the need to comprehensively address strategies for reducing TB by considering social determinants and including health education strategies throughout the country.

RESUMEN El objetivo del estudio fue describir las prevalencias de bajo peso al nacer a término y las desigualdades socio-geográficas entre los municipios y regiones de Colombia. Se realizó un estudio ecológico longitudinal a partir de los registros de estadísticas vitales del Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (DANE) de 1096 municipios de Colombia entre los años 2000 y 2014. La población de estudio fueron 7.514.492 nacidos vivos a término, de partos de único feto de madres entre 15 a 45 años. Se ajustó un modelo jerárquico bayesiano para la estimación de riesgos relativos suavizados y sus intervalos de credibilidad (95%). Como resultados se encontró que la prevalencia de bajo peso al nacer en Colombia fue de 2,28 (2,26-2,29), con una tendencia a la reducción pasando de 2,80 en el 2000 a 1,79 en el 2014. Se observaron desigualdades territoriales, en donde los municipios más pobres y menos desarrollados mostraron mayores riesgos de bajo peso al nacer a término, tendencia que se mantuvo a lo largo del periodo analizado. En conclusión, existe una tendencia a la disminución de bajo peso al nacer a término en Colombia, para cada una de sus regiones y un gradiente social negativo.