title: Unnatural Deaths Among Children and Adolescents in Isfahan Province, Iran: A Forensic Epidemiology Study of Postmortem Data.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The issue of child and adolescent injury and violence is often absent from discussions and is largely invisible in public health policies. The purpose of this study was to describe the frequency and pattern of unnatural deaths during childhood and adolescence in Isfahan province in Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective, descriptive study involved unnatural deaths among individuals under the age of 20 years who died from unnatural causes as determined by a forensic autopsy at the Legal Medicine Center of Isfahan. During the study period, 8,010 unnatural deaths occurred, 1,222 of which were individuals under 20 years old.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All 1,222 of these unnatural deaths were identified through autopsy. Among the 1,222 cases, 895 (73.2%) were male, and 327 were female (26.8%). Accidental deaths were found to be the most frequent manner of death comprising 1,029 (83.96%) cases, followed by suicide (120, 9.82%), undetermined cause of death (39, 3.19%), and homicide (9, 2.86%) cases. Road traffic accidents were the number 1 cause of death (597, 49%), followed by burns (122, 10%) and hanging (90, 7.4%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Injuries and violence that occur during childhood and adolescence represent a global public health problem, especially in low- and middle-income regions, and require urgent action.
authors.affiliation: Author Affiliations: 1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences; 2Forensic Medical Investigations, Pittsburgh, PA; 3Scholl of Public Health, Medical University of Isfahan; 4Legal Medicine Center of Isfahan Province; and 5Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics,Tehran University of Medical Sciences.
authors.forename: Kourosh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Holakouie-Naieni
authors.forename: Steven A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Koehler
authors.forename: Roya
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Karimi
authors.forename: Fardin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mardani
authors.forename: Jalal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Karimi
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents / Q000401:mortality*; D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006708:Homicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000401:mortality*; D055815:Young Adult