Violent asphyxial deaths-an autopsy based retrospective study

Abstract

Objective: To statistically analyze the data of violent asphyxial deaths obtained from PIMS Forensic Record during years 2014-2018.

Methodology: This was an autopsy based retrospective study was conducted based on the five years January 2014 to December 2018 data collected from Forensic department, PIMS Islamabad. Only asphyxial deaths were further analyzed. Cross tabs were made between types of asphyxial deaths, age and gender of victims using SPSS and Microsoft Excel to evaluate and interpret the results in the form of graphs and charts.

Results: A total of 650 autopsies were conducted during the period of 5 years i.e. 2014-2018, out of which 69 (10.615%) were violent asphyxia deaths. Ratio of male to female asphyxial deaths was observed as 1.72:1 with a percentage of victims as (62.3%) in males and (37.7%) in females. Among all cases, ligature strangulation was the leading cause of death (40.6%) and smothering was the least common (only 2.9%). Most commonly involved age group was 21-30 years (30.4%).

Conclusion: Violent asphyxial deaths are most common in young adults. Strangulation came out to be the most common type in both males and females.