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Park, Na, Lee, Chung, and Choi: A Statistical Analysis on Forensic Autopsies Performed in Korea in 2015
Original Article

Korean J Leg Med 2016;40(4):104-118.

Published online: 19 December 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7580/kjlm.2016.40.4.104

A Statistical Analysis on Forensic Autopsies Performed in Korea in 2015

Ji Hye Park1, Joo-Young Na1, Bong Woo Lee2, Nak Eun Chung2, Young Shik Choi3

1Forensic Medicine Division, National Forensic Service Gwangju Institute, Jangseong, Korea

2Medical Examiner's Office, National Forensic Service, Wonju, Korea

3National Forensic Service, Wonju, Korea

Correspondence to Joo-Young Na Forensic Medicine Division, National Forensic Service Gwangju Institute, 687 Chungnyeong-ro, Seosam-myeon, Jangseong 57231, Korea Tel: +82-61-393-8442 Fax: +82-61-393-8440 E-mail: pdrdream@gmail.com

Received 1 November 201623 November 2016       Accepted 28 November 2016

Copyright © 2016 The Korean Society for Legal Medicine

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The statistical analysis of forensic autopsies provides basic data for the postmortem investigation system and is the foundation of the statistics used in the analysis of the causes of death. A statistical analysis was performed on national forensic autopsy data collected in the Republic of Korea during 2015 to overcome regional limitations and limitations from the number of unusual deaths in the current forensic autopsy research. A total of 6,610 cases were categorized based on the region, requested Police Agency or Coast Guard, gender, age, manner of death, and cause of death. Analysis of the manner of death revealed that 3,326 cases (50.3%) were unnatural death, 2,754 cases (41.7%) were natural death, and 530 cases (8.0%) were of unknown. Of the 3,326 cases of unnatural death, the majority (1,275 cases, 38.3%) were accidents, 1,040 cases (31.3%) were suicide, 481 cases (14.5%) were homicide, and 530 cases (15.9%) were undetermined death. Among the unnatural death, the majority (1,330 cases, 40.0%) were trauma, followed by 588 cases (17.7%) of asphyxia and 566 cases (17.0%) of poisoning. Fall down were the major cause of death by trauma (538 cases, 40.5%). On the basis of a previous study, there were 588 cases of asphyxia; strangulation was the major cause, with 472 cases (80.3%). Of the 2,754 cases of natural death, heart disease was the major cause (1,417 cases, 51.5%), followed by vascular disease (503 cases, 18.3%).

Keywords: Autopsy, Cause of death, Statistical data interpretations, Korea

REFERENCES

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Table 1.
Deaths, unusual deaths, and autopsies in Korea in 2015
Region Deaths Requested PA or CG Unusual deaths Autopsies Autopsy rate
1 2
Seoul 43,053 Seoul PA 4,986 1,161 2.7 23.3
Busan 20,820 Busan PA 2,262 259 1.2 11.5
    Busan CG 108 58   53.7
Incheon 13,452 Incheon PA 1,689 410 3.0 24.3
    Incheon CG 51 33   64.7
Daegu 13,081 Daegu PA 1,700 191 1.5 11.2
Gwangju 7,443 Gwangju PA 943 143 1.9 15.2
Daejeon 6,961 Daejeon PA 982 151 2.2 15.4
Ulsan 4,915 Ulsan PA 615 77 1.6 12.5
    Ulsan CG 30 16   53.3
Gyeonggi-do 53,005 Gyeonggi PA 7,198 1,763 3.3 24.5
    Pyeongtaek CG 23 9   39.1
Gangwon-do 11,301 Gangwon PA 1,652 317 2.8 19.2
    Sokcho and Donghae CG 54 25   46.3
Chungcheongbuk-do 10,638 Chungbuk PA 1,562 244 2.3 15.6
Chungchengnam-do 15,448 Chungnam PA 2,265 338 2.2 14.9
    Taean and Boryeong CG 32 16   50.0
Jeollabuk-do 13,721 Jeonbuk PA 1,821 207 1.5 11.4
    Gunsan CG 23 15   65.2
Jeollanam-do 16,543 Jeonnam PA 2,284 299 1.8 13.1
    Wando, Mokpo, and Yeosu CG 119 56   47.1
Gyeongsangbuk-do 20,862 Gyeongbuk PA 2,711 314 1.5 11.6
    Pohang CG 39 13   33.3
Gyeongsangnam-do 21,313 Gyeongnam PA 2,557 320 1.5 12.5
    Changwon and Tongyeong CG 88 31   35.2
Jeju-do 3,339 Jeju PA 575 120 3.6 20.9
    Jeju and Seoguipo CG 56 24   42.9
Subtotal 1     35,802 6,314   17.6
Subtotal 2     623 296   47.5
Total 275,895   36,425 6,610 2.4 18.1

Autopsy rate 1, autopsies/deaths; Autopsy rate 2, autopsies/unusual deaths. Chungcheongnam-do includes Sejong-si. Subtotal 1 includes PA, except CG; Subtotal 2 includes CG, except PA; total includes PA and CG. PA, Police Agency; CG, Coast Guard.

Table 2.
Age, sex, and manner of death of total number of legal autopsies performed in Korea in 2015
Age (yr) Sex Manner of death Total
Unnatural Suicide Homicide Accident Undetermined Natural Unknown Subtotal
≤9 M 38 1 20 14 3 58 24 120 221 (3.3)
  F 39 0 25 14 0 48 12 99  
  NI 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2  
10-19 M 39 11 10 16 2 16 2 57 94 (1.4)
  F 28 10 9 7 2 8 1 37  
  NI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
20-29 M 176 76 13 64 23 79 6 261 391 (5.9)
  F 93 54 11 24 4 30 6 129  
  NI 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  
30-39 M 262 107 33 87 35 234 31 527 788 (11.9)
  F 163 97 29 25 12 80 18 261  
  NI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
40-49 M 489 153 53 198 85 518 62 1,069 1,435 (21.7)
  F 232 86 54 64 28 115 19 366  
  NI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
50-59 M 637 156 71 301 109 711 85 1,433 1,805 (27.3)
  F 219 72 47 71 29 133 20 372  
  NI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
60-69 M 304 62 25 160 57 369 52 725 904 (13.7)
  F 89 28 14 32 15 75 15 179  
  NI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
70-79 M 178 50 21 77 30 118 23 319 523 (7.9)
  F 117 30 14 49 24 78 9 204  
  NI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
≥80 M 54 12 6 29 7 39 7 100 230 (3.5)
  F 85 16 21 30 18 35 10 130  
  NI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
NI M 57 16 1 9 31 3 40 100 219 (3.3)
  F 10 3 1 1 5 3 15 28  
  NI 16 0 3 2 11 2 73 91  
Subtotal M 2,234 644 253 955 382 2,145 332 4,711 6,610 (100)
  F 1,075 396 225 317 137 605 125 1,805  
  NI 17 0 3 3 11 4 73 94  
Total   3,326 (50.3) 1,040 (15.7) 481 (7.3) 1,275 (19.3) 530 (8.0) 2,754 (41.7) 530 (8.0) 6,610 (100) –

Values are presented as number (%). M, male; F, female; NI, not identified.

Table 3.
Cause of death and sex in unnatural death of legal autopsies performed in Korea in 2015
Cause of death Suicide Homicide Accident Undetermined Subtotal Total
M F NI M F NI M F NI M F NI M F NI
Trauma 100 73 0 207 129 0 508 137 0 131 45 0 946 384 0 1,330 (40.0)
Asphyxia 203 157 0 33 80 2 58 16 0 26 7 6 320 260 8 588 (17.7)
Drowning 47 23 0 5 3 0 108 19 1 170 49 2 330 94 3 427 (12.8)
Poisoning 267 133 0 2 4 0 82 43 0 24 9 2 375 189 2 566 (17.0)
Thermal injury 26 9 0 3 2 0 151 71 2 30 25 1 210 107 3 320 (9.6)
Electrocution 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 8 (0.2)
Starvation/ Neglect 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 (0.1)
Medical malpractice 0 0 0 0 0 0 36 29 0 1 2 0 37 31 0 68 (2.0)
Anaphylaxis 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 (0.1)
Unknown 0 0 0 3 7 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 4 8 1 13 (0.4)
Others 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 (0.1)
Subtotal 644 (19.4) 396 (11.9) 0 253 (7.6) 225 (6.8) 3 (0.1) 955 (28.7) 317 (9.5) 3 (0.1) 382 (11.5) 137 (4.1) 11 (0.3) 2,234 (67.2) 1,075 (32.3) 17 (0.5) 3,326 (100)
Total 1,040 (31.3) 481 (14.5) 1,275 (38.3) 530 (15.9) 3,326 (100) –

Values are presented as number (%). M, male; F, female; NI, not identified.

Table 4.
Cause of death in trauma of legal autopsies performed in Korea in 2015
Cause of death Suicide Homicide Accident Undetermined Subtotal Total
M F NI M F NI M F NI M F NI M F NI
Blunt force injury 0 0 0 98 60 0 62 7 0 4 4 0 164 71 0 235 (17.7)
Sharp force injury 38 5 0 88 64 0 2 1 0 3 3 0 131 73 0 204 (15.3)
Gunshot injury 4 0 0 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 1 0 13 (1.0)
Traffic accident 2 1 0 0 0 0 182 65 0 0 0 0 184 66 0 250 (18.8)
Fall down 56 67 0 11 4 0 247 64 0 66 23 0 380 158 0 538 (40.5)
Explosion 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 0 15 (1.1)
Combined 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 (0.2)
Others 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 58 15 0 58 15 0 73 (5.5)
Subtotal 100 (7.5) 73 (5.5) 0 (0) 207 (15.6) 129 (9.7) 0 (0) 508 (38.2) 137 (10.3) 0 (0) 131 (9.8) 45 (3.4) 0 (0) 946 (71.1) 384 (28.9) 0 (0) 1,330 (100)
Total 173 (13.0) 336 (25.3) 645 (48.5) 176 (13.2) 1,330 (100) –

Values are presented as number (%). M, male; F, female; NI, not identified.

Table 5.
Fatal sites of blunt force injury and manner of death of legal autopsies performed in Korea in 2015
Cause of death Head Neck Chest Abdomen Extremity Multiple TSH PSH Total
Suicide 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (0)
Homicide 94 2 6 23 0 25 10 0 160 (67.5)
Accident 11 5 10 3 1 39 0 0 69 (29.1)
Undetermined 4 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 8 (3.4)
Total 109 (46.0) 7 (3.0) 16 (6.8) 27 (11.4) 1 (0.4) 67 (28.3) 10 (4.2) 0 (0) 237 (100)

Values are presented as number (%). Total number includes two cases of “combined” cause of death. TSH, traunatic shock; PSH, primary shock.

Table 6.
Fatal sites of sharp force injury and manner of death of legal autopsies performed in Korea in 2015
Cause of death Head Neck Chest Abdomen Back Arm Leg Multiple Total
Suicide 0 8 7 15 0 4 1 8 43 (20.9)
Homicide 5 35 49 20 0 1 2 42 154 (74.8)
Accident 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 3 (1.5)
Undetermined 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 2 6 (2.9)
Total 5 (2.4) 44 (21.4) 56 (27.2) 36 (17.5) 0 (0) 7 (3.4) 5 (2.4) 53 (25.7) 206 (100)

Values are presented as number (%). Total number includes two cases of “combined” cause of death.

Table 7.
Cause of death in asphyxia of legal autopsies performed in Korea in 2015
Cause of death Suicide Homicide Accident Undetermined Subtotal Total
M F NI M F NI M F NI M F NI M F NI
Strangulation 191 151 0 27 62 2 4 1 0 23 5 6 245 219 8 472 (80.3)
Hanging 183 139 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 22 4 6 207 143 6 356 (75.4)
Ligature strangulation 8 12 0 12 21 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 22 34 1 57 (12.1)
Manual strangulation 0 0 0 14 41 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 41 1 56 (11.9)
Strangulation, NOS 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 3 (0.6)
Suffocation 11 6 0 2 11 0 40 13 0 1 2 0 54 32 0 86 (14.6)
Smothering 1 2 0 2 10 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 9 12 0 21 (24.4)
Chocking 2 0 0 0 1 0 25 12 0 1 1 0 28 14 0 42 (48.8)
Deficient 8 4 0 0 0 0 9 1 0 0 1 0 17 6 0 23 (26.7)
Mechanial asphyxia 0 0 0 0 1 0 13 2 0 1 0 0 14 3 0 17 (2.9)
Positional asphyxia 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 (17.6)
Crushing asphyxia 0 0 0 0 1 0 10 2 0 1 0 0 11 3 0 14 (82.4)
Complicated asphyxia 1 0 0 4 6 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 7 6 0 13 (2.2)
Subtotal 203 (34.5) 157 (26.7) 0 (0) 33 (5.6) 80 (13.6) 2 (0.3) 58 (9.9) 16 (2.7) 0 (0) 26 (4.4) 7 (1.2) 6 (1.0) 320 (54.4) 260 (44.2) 8 (1.4) 588 (100)
Total 360 (61.2) 115 (19.6) 74 (12.6) 39 (6.6) 588 (100) –

Values are presented as number (%). M, male; F, female; NI, not identified; NOS, not otherwise specidied.

Table 8.
Cause of death in poisoning of legal autopsies performed in Korea in 2015
Cause of death Suicide Homicide Accident Undetermined Subtotal Total
M F NI M F NI M F NI M F NI M F NI
Ethanol 1 0 0 0 0 0 40 21 0 0 0 0 41 21 0 62 (11.0)
Carbon monoxide 92 26 0 1 1 0 15 9 0 5 1 0 113 37 0 150 (26.5)
Cyanides 27 4 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 3 1 0 31 7 0 38 (6.7)
Agrochemicals 62 24 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 5 3 1 68 29 1 98 (17.3)
Narcotics 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 1 5 (0.9)
Therapeutic drugs 61 62 0 0 0 0 5 9 0 10 3 0 76 74 0 150 (26.5)
Organic solvents 5 5 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 9 6 0 15 (2.7)
Combined 4 11 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 9 12 0 21 (3.7)
Other 14 1 0 0 0 0 9 2 0 1 0 0 24 3 0 27 (4.8)
Subtotal 267 (47.2) 133 (23.5) 0 (0) 2 (0.4) 4 (0.7) 0 (0) 82 (14.5) 43 (7.6) 0 (0) 24 (4.2) 9 (1.6) 2 (0.4) 375 (66.3) 189 (33.4) 2 (0.4) 566 (100)
Total 400 (70.7) 6 (1.1) 125 (22.1) 35 (6.2) 566 (100) –

Values are presented as number (%). M, male; F, female; NI, not identified.

Table 9.
Cause of death in thermal injury of legal autopsies performed in Korea in 2015
Cause of death Suicide Homicide Accident Undetermined Subtotal Total
M F NI M F NI M F NI M F NI M F NI
Fire 22 7 0 1 2 0 109 50 2 29 21 1 161 80 3 244 (76.3)
Burn 3 1 0 1 0 0 6 5 0 1 2 0 11 8 0 19 (5.9)
Heat stroke 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 4 (1.3)
Hypothermia 1 1 0 1 0 0 31 15 0 0 2 0 33 18 0 51 (15.9)
Others 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 (0.6)
Subtotal 26 (8.1) 9 (2.8) 0 (0) 3 (0.9) 2 (0.6) 0 (0) 151 (47.2) 71 (22.2) 2 (0.6) 30 (9.4) 25 (7.8) 1 (0.3) 210 (65.6) 107 (33.4) 3 (0.9) 320 (100)
Total 35 (10.9) 5 (1.6) 224 (70.0) 56 (17.5) 320 (100.0) –

Values are presented as number (%). M, male; F, female; NI, not identified.

Table 10.
Cause of death and sex in natural death of legal autopsies performed in Korea in 2015
Cause of death   Male Female Not identified Subtotal Total
Heart Ischemic disease 843 109 1 953 (67.3) 1,417 (51.5)
  Myocardial disease 39 15 0 54 (3.8)  
  Valvular disease 2 1 0 3 (0.2)  
  Hypertensive disease 8 0 0 8 (0.6)  
  Others 312 87 0 399 (28.2)  
Vascular system Cerebral vessel 221 95 0 316 (62.8) 503 (18.3)
  Aorta 48 32 0 80 (15.9)  
  Pulmonary vessel 18 34 0 52 (10.3)  
  Esophageal varix 40 11 0 51 (10.1)  
  Others 1 3 0 4 (0.8)  
Respiratory system Larynx/Pharynx 0 0 0 0 (0) 102 (3.7)
  Trachea 5 2 0 7 (6.9)  
  Lung 66 25 0 91 (89.2)  
  Others 4 0 0 4 (3.9)  
Digestive system Stomach/Intestine 42 5 0 47 (31.5) 149 (5.4)
  Liver 61 17 0 78 (52.3)  
  Pancreas 9 0 0 9 (6.0)  
  Others 12 3 0 15 (10.1)  
Endocrine/Nutritional/Metabolic disorder Chronic alcoholism 128 38 0 166 (71.9) 231 (8.4)
  Diabetes 30 13 0 43 (18.6)  
  Malnutrition 11 7 0 16 (7.8)  
  Others 2 2 0 4 (1.7)  
Pregnancy/Puerperium/Delivery Hypertensive disorder 0 0 0 0 (0) 7 (0.3)
  Uterus 0 1 0 1 (14.3)  
  Embolism 0 3 0 3 (42.9)  
  Others (hemorrhage) 0 3 0 3 (42.9)  
Perinatal conditions Hypoxia 3 2 1 6 (40.0) 15 (0.5)
  Others 4 4 1 9 (60.0)  
Miscellaneous   78 47 0 125 (100) 125 (4.5)
Ill-defined mortality SMDS 43 1 0 44 (21.5) 205 (7.4)
  SIDS 35 21 0 56 (27.3)  
  Unknown 80 24 1 105 (51.2)  
Total   1,901 (77.8) 540 (22.1) 3 (0.1)   2,754 (100)

Values are presented as number (%). SMDS, sudden manhood death syndrome; SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome.

Table 11.
Cause of death and sex in miscellaneous natural death of legal autopsies performed in Korea in 2015
Cause of death   Male Female Not identified Subtotal Total
Central nervous system Epilepsy 9 6 0 15 (62.5) 24
  Encephalomeningitis 6 1 0 7 (29.2)  
  Others 1 1 0 2 (8.3)  
Certain infection Septicemia 7 2 0 9 (28.1) 32
  Tuberculosis 14 7 0 21 (65.6)  
  Others 2 0 0 2 (6.3)  
Neoplasm Respiratory 7 1 0 8 (24.2) 33
  Digestive 11 3 0 14 (42.4)  
  Central nervous system 0 2 0 2 (6.1)  
  Others 3 6 0 9 (27.3)  
Genitourinary system Kidney 3 3 0 6 (60.0) 10
  Others 3 1 0 4 (40.0)  
Congenital disease Heart 4 6 0 10 (83.3) 12
  Others 2 0 0 2 (16.7)  
Others   6 5 0 11 (100) 11

Values are presented as number (%).

Table 12.
Manner of death in children under 10 of legal autopsies performed in Korea in 2015
Manner of death Neonate Infancy Preschool Prepuberty Subtotal Total
M F NI M F NI M F NI M F NI M F NI
Unnatural 7 12 0 8 9 0 12 10 0 11 8 0 38 39 0 77 (34.8)
Suicide 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 (1.3)
Homicide 3 9 0 3 6 0 9 6 0 5 4 0 20 25 0 45 (58.4)
Accident 3 3 0 4 3 0 2 4 0 5 4 0 14 14 0 28 (36.4)
Undetermined 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 (3.9)
Natural 17 8 2 35 24 0 3 13 0 3 3 0 58 48 2 108 (48.9)
Unknown 16 9 0 5 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 24 12 0 36 (16.3)
Subtotal 40 (18.1) 29 (13.1) 2 (0.9) 48 (21.7) 36 (16.3) 0 (0) 18 (8.1) 23 (10.4) 0 (0) 14 (6.3) 11 (5.0) 0 (0) 120 (54.3) 99 (44.8) 2 (0.9) 221 (100)
Total 71 (32.1) 84 (38.0) 41 (18.6) 25 (11.3) 221 (100) –

Values are presented as number (%). Neonate, birth-4 weeks; Infancy, 1 month-1 year; Preschool, 2-5 years; Prepuberty, 6-9 years. M, male; F, female; NI, not identified.

Table 13.
Analysis of unknown cause of death cases performed in Korea in 2015
Manner of death Case of unknown cause of death Total
Putrefied Skeletonized Infancy Others
Unnatural 4 2 4 3 13 (2.0)
Suicide 0 0 0 0 0 (0)
Homicide 3 2 4 2 11 (84.6)
Accident 1 0 0 1 2 (15.4)
Undetermined 0 0 0 0 0 (0)
Natural 46 1 0 58 105 (16.2)
Unknown 353 85 34 58 530 (81.8)
Total 403 (62.2) 88 (13.6) 38 (5.9) 119 (18.4) 648 (100)

Values are presented as number (%). Infancy, 1 month-1 year.

Table 14.
Death, unusual deaths, and autopsies in Korea from 2012 to 2015
Region Unusual/Death (%) Autopsies/Death (%) Autopsies/Unusual (%)
2012 2013 2014 2015 2012 2013 2014 2015 2012 2013 2014 2015
Seoul 13.4 13.4 12.3 11.6 2.6 2.6 2.4 2.7 18.6 19.5 19.5 23.3
Busan 09.6 09.2 08.6 11.4 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.2 14.0 15.2 14.5 13.4
Incheon 14.2 13.3 12.6 12.9 3.3 3.1 3.1 3.0 23.0 23.6 24.1 25.5
Daegu – – – 13.0 – – – 1.5 – – – 11.2
Gwangju 13.9 13.4 13.6 12.7 1.5 1.5 1.7 1.9 10.7 10.7 12.7 15.2
Daejeon 15.5 14.7 14.8 14.1 1.2 1.3 2.2 2.2 07.7 08.5 14.6 15.4
Ulsan – – – 13.1 – – – 1.6 – – – 14.4
Gyeonggi-do 15.3 15.3 14.1 13.6 2.5 2.7 2.9 3.3 16.6 17.4 20.4 24.5
Gangwon-do 16.2 15.7 14.9 15.1 1.5 1.8 1.9 2.8 09.2 11.6 12.6 20.0
Chungcheongbuk-do 16.1 15.6 15.1 14.7 1.5 1.6 2.0 2.3 09.2 10.5 13.3 15.6
Chungchengnam-do 16.2 17.5 15.6 14.9 1.9 2.1 1.9 2.2 11.7 12.0 12.0 15.4
Jeollabuk-do 12.9 21.4 13.5 13.4 1.1 1.1 1.5 1.5 08.4 05.4 11.3 12.0
Jeollanam-do 13.0 16.9 13.2 14.5 1.7 1.5 2.0 1.8 12.8 08.9 15.2 14.8
Gyeongsangbuk-do 13.8 9.3 13.4 13.2 1.1 1.2 1.5 1.5 07.7 12.9 11.1 11.9
Gyeongsangnam-do 14.2 10.9 12.8 12.4 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.5 07.7 10.6 10.7 13.3
Jeju-do – – – 18.9 – – – 3.6 – – – 22.8
Total 14.2 14.0 13.1 13.2 1.9 1.8 2.1 2.4 13.5 13.0 16.0 18.1

Values are presented as percentage.

Table 15.
Cause of death of legal autopsies in Korea from 2012 to 2015
Cause of death   2012 2013 2014 2015
Unnatural death Trauma 43.0 42.1 38.8 40.0
  Asphyxia 17.2 16.0 16.3 17.7
  Drowning 12.5 14.4 15.0 12.8
  Poisoning 11.5 12.9 14.8 17.0
  Thermal injury 11.2 11.0 11.3 9.6
  Electrocution 0.3 0.8 0.2 0.2
  Starvation/Neglect 0.3 0.8 0.2 0.1
  Medical malpractice 2.7 1.8 2.5 2.0
  Anaphylaxis 0.3 0.0 0.1 0.1
  Other 0.8 0.3 0.8 0.1
Natural death Heart 50.2 52.0 49.0 51.5
  Vascular 16.7 16.9 17.3 18.3
  Respiratory 3.1 3.0 3.0 3.7
  Digestive 5.4 4.8 7.3 5.4
  Endocrine/Nutritional/Metabolic 7.7 8.9 9.8 8.4
  Pregnancy/Puerperium/Delivery 0.3 0.8 0.6 0.3
  Perinatal 1.0 1.3 1.1 0.5
  Miscellaneous 5.1 5.1 5.5 4.5
  Ill-defined mortality 10.5 7.3 6.4 7.4

Values are presented as number (%).

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