title: Death in sauna.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: State Provincial Office of Southern Finland, University of Helsinki, Finland. anu.kenttamies@helsinki.fi
authors.forename: Anu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kenttämies
authors.forename: Kari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Karkola
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000401:mortality; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D018882:Heat Stress Disorders / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017678:Sex Distribution; D029002:Steam Bath; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D000431:Ethanol