Trends of Asphyxial Deaths and Its Association With Various Demographic Factors Reported to Forensic Medicine Department Peshawar; An Autopsy-Based Retrospective Study

Abstract

Objectives: To find the frequency of reported asphyxial deaths to gender and pattern of injury reported. This study also intended to identify the causes and the association between age, area, and gender of the deceased with sexual assault-related asphyxial deaths. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted at the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Khyber Medical College Peshawar from 1st July 2018 to 30th June 2023 (5 years data). All the subjects who died due to asphyxia and were presented for autopsy at the department were included in the study. Cases with incomplete documentation and those referred from other districts were excluded from the study. Results: Of the total 187 subjects, 66.8% (n=125) were males and 33.2% (n=62) were females with male to female ratio of 2:1. In the data, 57.2% (n=107) belonged to urban areas and 42.8% (n=80) were of rural areas. In total subjects, 88.8% (n=166) had immediate deaths, 6.4% (n=12) had delayed ones, and 4.8% (n=9) were undetermined. The most prevalent type of asphyxia was mechanical 113 (60.4%). The most common cause of asphyxia death was found to be hanging at 34.22%. However, of the 187 subjects, 5.3% (n=10) had intoxications, of which 1.6% (n=3) had tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), carbon monoxide (CO) and morphine poisoning each and 0.5% (n=1) had methamphetamine poisoning. Conclusion: Our study concluded that asphyxial deaths were more prevalent in males in the middle-aged group. Asphyxial deaths were found more in urban areas than in rural areas. Mechanical asphyxia was the most common type of asphyxia while hanging was the most common pattern. Key words: asphyxia, tetrahydrocannabinol, mechanical, traumatic, sexual, iatrogenic, and chemical asphyxia.