Forensic geriatric deaths in Adana, Turkey.
The World Health Organization describes geriatric age group as the population aged 65 years or older. Parallel with the development of medical and technological areas, the life expectancy gets longer and geriatric population has been dramatically increasing. In this respect, geriatric deaths are frequently encountered due to increasing risk factors and pathophysiological changes in aging process. The records of the Forensic Medicine Institution Adana Group Authority Morgue Specialty Office were used. Death certificates and autopsy records of 9007 cases autopsied between the years of 1998 and 2007 were examined retrospectively. Seven hundred and twenty-six geriatric age (>or=65 years) deaths were taken in the scope of the study. All of the cases were analyzed with regard to age, sex, cause of death, incident place, and the place and origin of death. Geriatric deaths comprised 8.1% (726 cases) of all the medico-legal autopsy cases (9007) during these ten years. Of all geriatric deaths, 73.8% (536) were male while 26.2% (190) were female. Ages of cases were between 65 and 96 years, and the mean age was 72.3. Majority (310 cases, 42.7%) of deaths were by natural causes, while this was followed by accidental deaths with 227 cases (31.4%). This study was aimed to discuss the general features of geriatric deaths accepted as forensic cases, in the light of the literature.
Hilal
Ahmet
A
Cukurova University School of Medicine, Department of Forensic Medicine, Balcali 01330, Adana, Turkey. ahilal@cu.edu.tr
Akçan
Ramazan
R
Eren
Ali
A
Turhan
Ali
A
Arslan
Mustafa
M
D000059:Accidents / Q000401:mortality; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001344:Autopsy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006708:Homicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology