Relationship Between the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Results of Death From External Causes – Before and During

Abstract

ntroduction: Deaths from external causes are those that result from an exogenous and harmful action to the individual, or that worsen a preexisting pathological condition, so that there is a cause and effect relationship between aggression and death. These deaths are directly related to human activities, as well as existing environmental phenomena in the world, such as the pandemic that started in December 2019, as a result of covid-19, a disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Objectives: This study aimed to analyze a possible change in the profile of deaths from external causes based on cadaveric reports from the Instituto Médico Legal Estácio de Lima, in Maceió/AL in a pre-pandemic period (2018 and 2019) and with the pandemic in force (2020 and 2021). Material and method: This was a documentary, epidemiological, descriptive, and analytical study through sampling. The research analyzed a sample of 1824 cadaveric reports from the IML Estácio de Lima archive from 2018 to 2021. Results: Comparing the period 2018-2019, without a pandemic, with the years 2020-2021 in which the pandemic was in progress, the percentage of deaths from external causes increased from 87.83% to 90.13%. The predominant gender was male, ranging from 82.24% to 87.5% of the cases. Homicides increased from 48.46% in the 2018/2019 biennium to 45.94% in the 2020/2021 biennium. Suicides decreased by 0.88%. Deaths from undetermined causes rose from 3.73% in the first biennium analyzed, to 10.42% in the pandemic period. Mechanical energy had the highest prevalence in all years, with the blunt punch instrument being the most prevalent in the years 2018, 2019 and 2020 and the blunt instrument in the year 2021. Discussion: The covid-19 pandemic has had an impact on deaths from external causes in its modalities and variables, in addition to generating changes in the forensic activities of the IML Estácio de Lima, leading to a greater number of deaths from undetermined causes, probably due to the limitations arising from the covid-19 pandemic, such as protocols created to prevent the spread of the virus to those involved in the necroscopic expertise. Conclusion: The covid-19 pandemic changed the social context, human activities and, consequently, the profile of deaths from external causes, due to changes aimed at containing cases of the disease.