[Relationship between alcohol consumption and external causes of death based on the forensic autopsy cases in Yamaguchi].

Abstract

We analyzed forensic autopsy cases to assess the relationship between alcohol consumption and external causes of death. We divided 605 autopsy cases which had been performed from 2000 to 2011 at our department into Alcohol group (n = 172, 28.4%) and Non-alcohol group (n = 433, 71.6%) according to whether alcohol could be detected in the deceased's blood. The individuals' sex and age, season when the death occurred, cause of death, type of death and circumstances of death were analyzed. Alcohol group had a significantly higher ratio of males and younger ages (both p < 0.05). There was no significant between-group difference regarding the seasons when the deaths occurred. Alcohol group had significantly greater rates of spinal injuries, abdominal injuries, traffic accidents, and accidental drowning. "Bicycling" was revealed as a related factor of the traffic accidents only in Alcohol group. In contrast, "accident on the expressway," "riding a motorcycle," and "a passenger in a vehicle" were related factors only in Non-alcohol group. We concluded that the factors of male gender and middle-to-senior age are responsible for the increased risk of external causes of death after alcohol consumption, and that alcohol consumption is one of the risk factors for accidental death. In Japan, drunk-driving-related accidents have shown a downward trend whereas bicycling-related accidents have shown an upward trend, and similar results were obtained in the present study. The low awareness of drinking-induced pitfalls may be responsible for drinking-related bicycle accidents.