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The Fatal Poisoning Pattern of A nkara ( T urkey) and Nearby Cities from 2007 to J une 2011: A Retrospective Study in Forensic Autopsies
Author(s) -
Karaarslan Bekir,
Karapirli Mustafa,
Kandemir Eyup,
Kucuker Hudaverdi,
Gurler Mukaddes,
Ince Cengiz Haluk,
Akyol Omer
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.12189
Subject(s) - medicine , forensic science , poison control , socioeconomic status , forensic toxicology , environmental health , injury prevention , suicide prevention , population , substance abuse , alcohol abuse , occupational safety and health , medical jurisprudence , demography , medical emergency , psychiatry , veterinary medicine , pathology , chemistry , chromatography , sociology
We aimed to obtain an outline of the nature and number of fatal poisonings which still appear to affect widely the population in T urkey. A total of 5921 forensic autopsies were performed between 2007 and 2011 in A nkara and nearby cities and 366 of them were fatal poisonings (219 male, 147 female). Most of the cases were between 41 and 60 years old ( n = 84). Most of the fatalities were reported during winter months (48.1%). Carbon monoxide exposure was the most common reason (66.7%) within all the causes followed by medicine and narcotics (13.9%). Postmortem blood alcohol concentrations in ethyl and methyl alcohol poisonings were 385.1 ± 61.9 and 206.8 ± 138.9 mg/dL, respectively. The most common location of deaths was home (71.3%). Fatal poisonings have been a growing global problem because of some shortcomings about the socioeconomic conditions and increasing illicit drug abuse. The level of education, socioeconomic conditions, and legal approaches are very important for the prevention fatal poisonings.