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Death in Sauna *
Author(s) -
Kenttämies Anu,
Karkola Kari
Publication year - 2008
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/j.1556-4029.2008.00703.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cause of death , poison control , injury prevention , population , bathing , occupational safety and health , demography , environmental health , pathology , disease , sociology
Bathing in sauna is common in Finland, where there are approximately 2 million saunas among the population of 5.2 million. In this paper, deaths occurring while in a sauna in 1990–2002 in Finland were studied by analyzing police and forensic autopsy reports, death certificates, and toxicological results. The annual rate of death occurring while in a sauna was less than 2 per 100,000 inhabitants. Close to half (51%) of the cases were determined to be natural deaths and exposure to heat was the cause of death in 25%. Overall, 50% of all cases were under the influence of alcohol. The main conclusion is that death in the sauna is a rare event even in Finland where the frequency of sauna bathing is high. The role of alcohol as a risk factor has grown. The prevention of these deaths should focus on less drinking of alcohol and avoid leaving a drunken bather alone in the sauna.