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Choi, Kim, Na, Lee, Lee, Park, and Kim: Analysis of Death due to Poisoning in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do Areas
Original Article

Korean J Leg Med 2016;40(3):72-77.

Published online: 19 December 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7580/kjlm.2016.40.3.72

Analysis of Death due to Poisoning in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do Areas

Woo-Young Choi1, 2∗, Hye-Jeong Kim1∗, Joo-Young Na3, Su-Jin Lee1, 2, Young-Jik Lee1, 2, Jong-Tae Park1, 2, 4, Hyung-Seok Kim1, 2

1Department of Forensic Medicine and Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea

2Research Institute of Forensic Science, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea

3Forensic Medicine Division, National Forensic Service Gwangju Institute, Jangseong, Korea

4Chonnam National University Law School, Gwangju, Korea

Correspondence to Hyung-Seok Kim Department of Forensic Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, 160 Baekseo-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju 61469, Korea Tel: +82-62-220-4090 Fax: +82-62-223-4250 E-mail: veritas@jnu.ac.kr

Received 2 May 201610 May 2016       Accepted 23 May 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

This study examined 190 cases of confirmed poisoning, as determined by autopsy findings, as well as alcohol and toxicant concentrations in post-mortem specimens. Judicial autopsies were performed from January 2007 to December 2014 at Department of Legal Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, the National Forensic Service Gwangju Institute, and St. Carollo Hospital. We analyzed the incidence of poisoning according to region and season in terms of year, sex, age, and classification of toxicants. In the regional classification, the number of deaths due to poisoning in Jeollanam-do and Gwangju areas was similar when considering autopsy numbers. The incidence was higher in autumn and spring than in summer and winter, and a large number of deaths occurred in 2008 and 2014. Additionally, the number of male deaths was approximately twice the number of female deaths, with the age of 50-59 being the most common age group. Pesticides comprised the largest number of deaths due to poison, followed by alcoholism, carbon monoxide, treatment drugs, and cyanic acid, in that order.

Keywords: Autopsy, Poisoning, Gwangju, Jeollanam-do, Cause of death

REFERENCES

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Table 1.
Classification of regional characteristics of all poisoning cases
Region Year Total, n (%) Total autopsy Poisoning death (%)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F
Gwangju 03 1 05 08 03 04 05 02 01 1 04 3 05 0 04 4 53 (27.9) 800 6.6
Jeonnam 11 3 12 06 09 09 13 09 11 6 07 4 07 8 19 3 137 (72.1) 2,071 6.6
Subtotal, 14 4 17 14 12 13 18 11 12 7 11 7 12 8 23 7 190 (100) – –
n (%) (7.4) (2.1) (8.9) (7.4) (6.3) (6.8) (9.5) (5.8) (6.3) (3.7) (5.8) (3.7) (6.3) (4.2) (12.1) (3.7)
Total, n (%) 18 (9.5) 31 (16.3) 25 (13.2) 29 (15.3) 19 (10) 18 (9.5) 20 (10.5) 30 (15.8) – – –

M, male; F, female.

Table 2.
Classification of the poisoning pattern by season and year
Season Year Total, n (%) Total autopsy Poisoning death (%)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F
Spring 7 1 6 6 1 5 4 1 2 0 6 0 6 1 5 2 53 (27.9) 714 24.9
Summer 4 1 3 2 3 6 4 5 3 4 2 3 2 2 7 2 53 (27.9) 709 24.7
Autumn 1 1 3 4 2 1 4 2 4 3 3 2 3 4 5 0 42 (22.1) 756 26.3
Winter 2 1 5 2 6 1 6 3 3 0 0 2 1 1 6 3 42 (22.1) 692 24.1
Total, n (%) 18 (9.5) 31 (16.3) 25 (13.2) 29 (15.3) 19 (10) 18 (9.5) 20 (10.5) 30 (15.8) 190 (100) – –

M, male; F, female.

Table 3.
Classification of death by sex character
Region Sex Total
Male Female
Gwangju 30 23 053 (27.9)
Jeonnam 89 48 137 (72.1)
Total 119 (62.6) 71 (37.4) 190

Values are presented as number (%).

Table 4.
Classification of poisoning death by age
Age (yr) Sex Total
Male Female
10-19 3 2 5 (2.7)
20-29 5 5 10 (5.5)
30-39 16 17 33 (18)
40-49 27 14 41 (22.4)
50-59 35 13 48 (26.2)
60-69 19 9 28 (15.3)
70-79 7 3 10 (5.5)
>80 3 5 8 (4.4)
Total 115 (62.8) 68 (37.2) 183 (100)

Values are presented as number (%).

Table 5.
Classification of poisoning death by nature of poisoning etiology
Poisoning death   2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Subtotal Total
Agricultural Insecticide Organic 2 4 3 2 1 1 3 3 19 (10) 49 (25.8
pesticide   phosphorus                    
    insecticide                    
    Organochlorine 1 1 1 2 0 3 2 1 11 (5.8) –
    agent                    
    Carbamate 0 4 4 0 3 1 2 3 17 (8.9) –
    Pyrethroid 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 (1.1) –
  Herbcide Paraquat 4 4 4 3 5 4 1 3 28 (14.7) 30 (15.8
    Uracil 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 (0.5) –
    Benzamide 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 (0.5) –
Natural poison     2 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 7 (3.7) 7 (3.7)
Drug     1 5 4 5 2 4 2 3 26 (13.7) 26 (13.7
Alcohol     3 5 2 3 1 3 6 2 25 (13.2) 25 (13.2
CO     0 2 2 4 5 1 2 10 26 (13.7) 26 (13.7
Hydrocarbon   Organic sulvant t 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 (1.1) 5 (2.6)
    Butane gas 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 (0.5) –
    Hydrogen sulfide 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 (1.1) –
Chemical Acid Acetic acid 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 (0.5) 19 (10)
  Alkali   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 –
  Cavanic acid   3 2 3 5 2 0 1 2 18 (9.5) –
Other Nicotin   1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 (0.5) 3 (1.6)
  Electrolyte   0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 (1.1) –
Total     18 (9.5) 31 (16.3) 25 (13.2) 29 (15.3) 19 (10) 18 (9.5) 20 (10.5) 30 (15.8) ) 190 (100) 190 (100)

Values are presented as number (%).

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