Citation

Gajic V, Raskovic A, Milojevic D, Gajic S, Djonovic N. Medicinski casopis 2011; 45(2): 26-31.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Srpsko lekarsko društvo - Okružna podružnica Kragujevac)

DOI

10.5937/medcas1102026G

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Violent deaths are deaths caused by violence and/or injury to the body, i.e. violent destruction of one's own or otherperson s life. There is a need to determine the frequency of violent deaths, so that adequate measures for prevention could be planned. The aim of this paper is to determine the frequency of violent deaths in the city of Kragujevac. The research was based on 2234 death certificates issued, which is 86.19% of the total number of death certificates issued in the city of Kragujevac in this period (2592). During the same period, coroners have carried out 203 investigations and declared 113 natural and 90 violent deaths. The number of violent deaths of men was three times higher than the number of violent deaths of women. The majority of men were married (36) and the fewest were divorced (4). The majority of women were widows (11), while there were no divorced women. We found that the number of violent deaths among people living in the city (46) was the same as the one among those living in rural areas (August (4) while the mortality rate had its peaks in May (14) and January (10). The biggest number of violent deaths were suicides (24 in the city and 22 in villages), followed by accidents (19 in villages and 15 in the city) and the fewest were murders (2). Classifying suicide deaths by cause of death revealed that hanging was the most frequent cause (29) and three quarters of them were men. This number is followed by deaths from fire arms (8), exclusively committed by men. Accidental violent deaths were the most frequent in traffic accidents (14) and three quarters of them were men. Violent deaths rate is relatively insignificant among the leading death rates. This rate could be lowered by applying preventive measures, starting from traffic safety measures to opening call-centres for people with psychological problems.

Language: en

Keywords

adult; human; Epidemiology; violence; homicide; suicide; Violence; female; male; accident; aged; sex difference; mortality; traffic accident; death; article; rural area; psychological aspect; marriage; urban population; divorce; death certificate; widow; health center; Death certificates