Study on unnatural childhood deaths presented to North Colombo Teaching Hospital, Sri Lanka

Kitulwatte, I.D.G.; Edirisinghe, P.A.S.

doi:10.1177/0025802413491249

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The largest number of asphyxia cases involved adolescents and young adults aged 15-21 years, and most incidents occurred at home with the exception of drowning, which occurred predominantly in public bodies of water. This distribution is consistent with previous publications in studies of non-natural child deaths in Estonia, Canada, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and the USA [12][13][14][15][16].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Cases of asphyxia in children and adolescents: a retrospective analysis of fatal accidents, suicides, and homicides from 1998 to 2017 in Hamburg, Germany

Mosek¹,

Sperhake

Edler

et al. 2020

Int J Legal Med

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Purpose Injury-related asphyxia is one of the most common causes of death in children in Germany. However, only a few systematic studies have analyzed the causes and circumstances of asphyxia in children and adolescents. Methods All cases of asphyxia in children and adolescents (0-21 years of age) among the Hamburg Legal Medical Department's autopsy cases from 1998 to 2017 were retrospectively analyzed with special focus on how often external findings were completely absent. Results Among 249 cases of fatal asphyxia, 68% were accidents, 14% were suicides, and 13% were homicides. Most of the cases involved boys. Adolescents and young adults aged 15-21 years represented the main age group. Drowning was the leading mechanism of asphyxia. Younger age was associated with less frequent detection of external signs of asphyxia in the postmortem external examination. Petechial hemorrhages were the most common visible external indication of asphyxia. No external findings indicative of asphyxia were present in 14% of the cases. Conclusion Asphyxia in children and adolescents often involves accidents. However, postmortem external examination alone is insufficient to identify asphyxia and the manner of death.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Cases of asphyxia in children and adolescents: a retrospective analysis of fatal accidents, suicides, and homicides from 1998 to 2017 in Hamburg, Germany

Mosek¹,

Sperhake

Edler

et al. 2020

Int J Legal Med

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“…A total of 16 articles accounting for 4453 drowning victims contain primary data on the location and body of water. A total of 2047 (46%) drowning events occurred in large bodies of water, 1852 (42%) in small bodies of water, 326 (7%) unknown, 119 (3%) in swimming pools, and 109 (2%) indoor [18–20, 28, 30, 32, 37, 39, 41, 43, 57, 58, 64, 71, 78, 79]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The epidemiology of drowning in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

et al. 2017

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BackgroundAccording to the World Health Organization, drowning is the 3rd leading cause of unintentional injury-related deaths worldwide, accounting for 370,000 annual deaths and 7% of all injury-related deaths. Low- and middle-income countries are the most affected, accounting for 91% of unintentional drowning deaths.MethodsThe authors performed a systematic review of literature indexed in EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Traumatology journals formerly indexed in PubMed in January 2014 and again in September 2016. Abstracts were limited to human studies in English, conducted in low- and middle-income countries, and containing quantitative data on drowning epidemiology.ResultsA total of 62 articles met inclusion criteria. The majority of articles originate from Asia (56%) and Africa (26%). Risk factors for drowning included young age (<17–20 years old), male gender (75% vs. 25% female), rural environment (84% vs. 16% urban), occurring in the daytime (95% vs. 5% night time), lack of adult supervision (76% vs. 18% supervised), and limited swimming ability (86% vs. 10% with swimming ability). There was almost equal risk of drowning in a small body of water versus a large body of water (42% ponds, ditches, streams, wells; 46% lakes, rivers, sea, ocean).ConclusionDrowning is a significant cause of injury-related deaths, especially in LMICs. Young males who are unsupervised in rural areas and have limited formal swimming instruction are at greatest risk of drowning in small bodies of water around their homes. Preventative strategies include covering wells and cisterns, fencing off ditches and small ponds, establishing community daycares, providing formal swimming lessons, and increasing awareness of the risks of drowning.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4239-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…In our study, homicides accounted for 5.3% of all violent deaths in children, which is comparable to some studies in the literature. 21,48 -50 According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Tunisia is not listed among the countries with the highest crime rates 51 though a recent study conducted in Tunis revealed that the homicide rate increased by 16% in the 2 years following the Revolution, 11 of which 6.3% were children under 18 years old. Looking into the perpetrator profile, he was most often a relative in Athani et al 21 and Friedman et al 52 series, more specifically being one of the parents in 56% of infants under 1 year of age.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of Unnatural Deaths Among Children and Adolescents: Autopsy Study (2011-2018)

et al. 2022

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Background and Aims: The problem of unnatural death in children is still relevant because of their vulnerability. This work aimed to describe the epidemiological profile and patterns of these medicolegal deaths in children and adolescents in northern Tunisia. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study from January 2011 to December 2018, within the Forensic Department of Charles Nicolle Hospital in Tunis. All children who died of unnatural causes were included (767 cases). Results: An overall male predominance was observed (sex ratio = 2.4). Accidental deaths represent the most common manner of death (81.4%) involving most frequently domestic accidents occurring in children aged between 1 and 4 years. In cases of suicide, the highest risk profile was a female child aged between 15 and 18 years. The suicide occurred most often in the victim’s home with hanging representing the common means of suicide. For the criminal form, the most common means in those cases were stabbing and blunt injuries. Conclusion: Our study delivered a broad picture of unnatural deaths among children in Tunisia. These deaths, largely absent from child survival initiatives presently on the global agenda, can be prevented if they are addressed strategically, as their injury prevention strategies differ from adults.

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Study on unnatural childhood deaths presented to North Colombo Teaching Hospital, Sri Lanka

Abstract: Accidents accounted for the majority (or greatest number) of tragic childhood deaths. The presence of drowning as the most common cause of death indicates that an immense responsibility lies with the parents and caregivers to prevent such deaths.

Cited by 6 publications

References 16 publications

Cases of asphyxia in children and adolescents: a retrospective analysis of fatal accidents, suicides, and homicides from 1998 to 2017 in Hamburg, Germany

Cases of asphyxia in children and adolescents: a retrospective analysis of fatal accidents, suicides, and homicides from 1998 to 2017 in Hamburg, Germany

The epidemiology of drowning in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

Patterns of Unnatural Deaths Among Children and Adolescents: Autopsy Study (2011-2018)

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