RETRACTED: A study of elderly unnatural deaths in medico-legal autopsies at Lucknow locality

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to determine the causes and epidemiological aspects of unnatural deaths in the elderly. Data were collected on 4405 male and female victims of unnatural deaths aged 50 years or more from the total number of 21,235 autopsies performed in King George's Medical University, Lucknow, India over a 5-year period, from 2008 to 2012. There were 3165 male victims and 1240 female victims. Unnatural deaths were higher in rural (64%) than in urban (37%) areas. Accidental deaths were the most common manner of unnatural deaths (59%), followed by suicidal deaths (34%) and homicidal deaths (7%). Traumas were the most common cause of unnatural death (77.3%), followed by undetermined causes (16.6%) and toxicological causes (6.1%). The most common causes of traumatic deaths were blunt head injuries (34%) followed by stab in the chest (6%), burn (16%), blunt injuries in abdomen and chest (10%), firearm injuries in the head and trunk (9%), strangulation (3%), stab in the abdomen (4%), smothering (4%), cut throat (3%), throttling (1%) and hanging (10%). Carbamate poisoning was the most common cause of toxicological deaths (44%) followed by organophosphorous poisoning (33%), ethyl alcohol poisoning (12%), barbiturate poisoning (3%) and zinc phosphide poisoning (8%).

Unnatural death in the elderly: a retrospective study of medicolegal autopsies in Northern Tunisia

“…Unnatural deaths and specifically traffic accidents were higher in urban areas in this study. In contrast with these results were those obtained by Kumar and Verma in their study conducted in India (Kumar and Verma 2014).…”

“…The poisoning of the elderly, unlike our study, is reported to be more often suicidal than accidental in studies carried out in India and Norway (Kumar and Verma 2014;Eilertsen et al 2006). We observed that accidental poisoning was especially caused by carbon monoxide and due the increased use of braziers in winter.…”

“…The diagnosis of a psychiatric pathology and the initiation of a treatment is indeed an effective means of prevention (Avci et al 2017). Suicidal intoxications have not been observed in our work; the most frequently found toxic agents for some authors are antidepressants (Eilertsen et al 2006) and for others carbamate and organophosphates (Kumar and Verma 2014).…”

“…The unnatural deaths of elderly are, however, likely to be underestimated. It is because of advanced age and a chronic somatic history that clinicians will sign death certificates without the request for investigations and that autopsies will then not be practiced in several cases of suspicious deaths (Kumar and Verma 2014). Accidents account for the majority of unnatural deaths in elderly, followed by suicide and homicide (Kumar and Verma 2014;Eilertsen et al 2006;Akar et al 2014).…”

“…It is because of advanced age and a chronic somatic history that clinicians will sign death certificates without the request for investigations and that autopsies will then not be practiced in several cases of suspicious deaths (Kumar and Verma 2014). Accidents account for the majority of unnatural deaths in elderly, followed by suicide and homicide (Kumar and Verma 2014;Eilertsen et al 2006;Akar et al 2014). Several studies have focused on the safety of elderly people in public roads and suggest, through an analysis of risk factors, the establishment of means to protect them (Lucidi et al 2014).…”