A retrospective analysis of alcohol in medicolegal postmortems over a period of five years

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dc.contributor.authorLoftus I.A.J.
dc.contributor.authorDada M.A.
dc.date.accessioned2011-05-15T16:15:20Z
dc.date.available2011-05-15T16:15:20Z
dc.date.issued1992
dc.description.abstractViolence and violent death are everyday events in present-day South Africa. Although this phenomenon may be attributed in great part to the sociopolitical environment, the single most important underlying common factor is the presence of alcohol in both the perpetrators of violence and their victims. We retrospectively studied 948 cases of 2,980 medicolegal autopsies done over a 5-year period. We found that 52.5% of cases tested positively for alcohol, with blood alcohol concentration varying from 0.008 to 0.048 g% (mean = 0.18). Male patients were more common and more likely to be positive than female patients. Breakdown of the cases into various modes of death showed that homicides, vehicular accidents, and suicides predominated. The results are in agreement with earlier studies done locally and elsewhere.
dc.description.versionArticle
dc.identifier.citationAmerican Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology
dc.identifier.citation13
dc.identifier.citation3
dc.identifier.issn01957910
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/13294
dc.subjectaccident
dc.subjectadolescent
dc.subjectadult
dc.subjectaged
dc.subjectalcohol blood level
dc.subjectalcohol consumption
dc.subjectarticle
dc.subjectautopsy
dc.subjectepidemiology
dc.subjecthomicide
dc.subjecthuman
dc.subjectmajor clinical study
dc.subjectmale
dc.subjectmedicolegal aspect
dc.subjectschool child
dc.subjectsocial status
dc.subjectsouth africa
dc.subjectsuicide
dc.subjectviolence
dc.subjectAccidents
dc.subjectAdolescent
dc.subjectAdult
dc.subjectCause of Death
dc.subjectEthanol
dc.subjectFemale
dc.subjectForensic Medicine
dc.subjectHomicide
dc.subjectHuman
dc.subjectMale
dc.subjectPostmortem Changes
dc.subjectRetrospective Studies
dc.subjectSocioeconomic Factors
dc.subjectSuicide
dc.subjectVitreous Body
dc.titleA retrospective analysis of alcohol in medicolegal postmortems over a period of five years
dc.typeArticle
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