The Statistical Analysis on Legal Autopsy in 2010 (The headquarters of National Forensic Service)

Division of Forensic Medicine, National Forensic Service, Seoul, Korea. sjsme@korea.kr

This is a statistical analysis based on the data of legal autopsies performed at the Headquarters of the National Forensic Service (NFS), requested by every kind of law enforcement agencies during the year of 2010. NFS is located in Seoul, Korea and has four branches throughout the country. The Seoul NFS covers all legal autopsies in Seoul, Incheon City and Gyeonggi Province and some cases referred from other regions. This report aims to analyze various aspects of 2,425 unusual deaths in Korea, chiefly Seoul and its surrounding area. Followings are the summary of the results. 1. The number of male was 1,777 cases (73.3%) and that of female 648 (26.7%). Male was over twice more than female. The forties were 592 cases (24.4%), the fifties 552 (22.8%), and these two decades occupied 47.2%. 2. Unnatural deaths were 1,377 cases (56.8%), natural 875 (36.1%), and the unknown 173 (7.1%). Among 1,377 unnatural deaths, suicide was 411 (29.8%), homicide 260 (18.9%), accident 417 (30.3%), and the undetermined 289 (21.0%). Homicide occupied 34.7% of trauma, 61.2% of blunt force injury excluding traffic and fall-down injury, and 81.4% of sharp force injury. The homicide rate in asphyxia was 23.9%, but it went up to 60.9% excluding hanging. It showed only 1.3% of homicide in poisoning. 3. Traumatic deaths were 536 cases, occupying 38.9% of 1,377 unnatural deaths, followed by poisoning. Blunt trauma was 138 cases (25.0%) and the leading cause of death in traumatic death. Poisoning was 245 cases, among which the alcohols were dominant (54 cases). Thermal injuries were 119 cases, electrocution 10 cases, and starvation/neglect 2 cases. and 48 cases were directly due to medical procedures. 4. Among 875 natural deaths, heart diseases were 583 cases (66.6%), and vascular diseases 64 (7.3%), and these two categories were added up to 647 (73.9%). 5. Child deaths under the age of 10 were 102 cases. Homicide was 25 cases (65.8%) out of 38 unnatural deaths. Neonates including still births were the leading period of age in unnatural death, counting 73 cases (71.6%).

Key words : legal autopsy, unusual death, homicide, statistical analysis

Original article