Citation

Devchand N, Krishnanjaneyulu A, Uppu RS, Singh UP. Indian J. Forensic Med. Toxicol. 2022; 16(1): 83-88.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, All-India Institute of Medical Sciences. Deptartment of Forensic Medicine)

DOI

10.37506/ijfmt.v16i1.17421

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The data regarding pediatric deaths are very limited particularly in developing countries due to lacunae in death registration system. The present study is a retrospective study regarding the causes which resulted in the deaths of children in pediatric age group from 0-12 yrs with an aim to know the overall incidence, the causes of death and manner of death. Unnatural childhood deaths are not only associated with intense trauma and distress, but also indicates a sense of self neglect to protect children from harm. The unnatural deaths may be due to unintentional or intentional acts.

Materials and Methods: This study is a retrospective demographic study of unnatural deaths among pediatric age group children between 0-12 years. All the unnatural deaths that were autopsied at the mortuary, General Hospital, Khammam of Telangana state for a period of 2 years from August 2012 to July 2014 were studied based on inquest, post mortem examination findings to know the profile of paediatric deaths.

Results and Conclusion: A total of 1283 cases were autopsied during the study period and out of that 2.4% of cases are unnatural deaths in pediatric age group of 0-12 years. The most commonly involved are male children in the age groups of the cases observed were between 3- 6 years and 9-12 years, the least involved age group was between 0- 3 years. Most common manner of death is accidental amounting to about 93.3%. Most common cause of death was due to road traffic accidents. These deaths are common in the rural population belonging to the low socio economic status.

Key words: Demographic study, Unnatural pediatric deaths, Post mortem examination, Road traffic accients, Socio economic status.

Language: en