A Statistical Analysis on Forensic Autopsies Performed in Korea in 2016

Ji Hye Park; Joo-Young Na; Bong Woo Lee; Young Shik Choi

doi:10.7580/kjlm.2018.42.1.8

Journal List > Korean J Leg Med > v.42(1) > 1088029

Go to TopGo to Top Go to BottomGo to Bottom

TOOLS

Park, Na, Lee, and Choi: A Statistical Analysis on Forensic Autopsies Performed in Korea in 2016

Original Article

Korean Journal of Legal Medicine 2018; 42(1): 8-21.

Published online: 28 February 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7580/kjlm.2018.42.1.8

A Statistical Analysis on Forensic Autopsies Performed in Korea in 2016

Ji Hye Park¹, Joo-Young Na², Bong Woo Lee³, Young Shik Choi⁴

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

²Biomedical Research Institute, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.

³Medical Examiner's Office, National Forensic Service, Wonju, Korea.

⁴National Forensic Service, Wonju, Korea.

Correspondence to Joo-Young Na. Biomedical Research Institute, Chonnam National University Hospital, 42, Jebong-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju 61469, Korea. Tel: +82-62-220-5716, Fax: +82-62-225-9402, pdrdream@gmail.com

Received 9 February 2018 Revised 18 February 2018 Accepted 23 February 2018

The Korean Society for Legal Medicine

(open-access):

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

A statistical analysis was performed on national forensic autopsy data collected in the Republic of Korea during 2016 to overcome regional limitations and limitations from the number of unusual deaths as reported in the literature over the previous year. A total of 8,335 cases were categorized based on the region, based on requests by the Police Agency and the Coast Guard, gender, age, manner of death, and cause of death. Analysis of the manner of death revealed that 4,028 cases (48.3%) were of unnatural death, 3,447 cases (41.4%) were of natural death, and 860 cases (10.3%) were of unknown death. Among the unnatural deaths, the majority of the manner of deaths (1,584 cases, 39.3%) was accidents, 1,378 cases (34.2%) were suicides, 428 cases (10.6%) were homicides, and 638 cases (15.8%) were undetermined deaths. Among the unnatural deaths, the majority of the cause of deaths (1,518 cases, 37.7%) was due to trauma, followed by 827 cases (20.5%) of poisoning and 732 cases (18.2%) of asphyxia. Falling was the major cause of death by trauma (668 cases, 44.0%). Based on a previous study about asphyxia, strangulation was the major cause, with 569 cases (77.7%). Among the natural deaths, heart disease was the major cause (1,727 cases, 50.1%), followed by vascular disease (587 cases, 17.0%).

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

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Deaths, unusual deaths, and autopsies in Korea in 2016

Chungnam includes Sejong. Subtotal 1 includes police agency, except coast guard; subtotal 2 includes coast guard, except police agency; total includes police agency and coast guard.

Autopsy rate 1, autopsies/deaths; Autopsy rate 2, autopsies/unusual deaths; PA, police agency; CG, coast guard.

Table 2

Age, sex, and manner of death of total number of legal autopsies performed in Korea in 2016

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 2016

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 2016

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 2016

Values are presented as number (%). Total number includes four 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 2016

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

Table 7

Cause of death in asphyxia of legal autopsies performed in Korea in 2016

Values are presented as number (%).

M, male; F, female; NI, not identified; NOS, not otherwise specified.

Table 8

Cause of death in poisoning of legal autopsies performed in Korea in 2016

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 2016

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 2016

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 2016

Values are presented as number (%).

Table 12

Manner of death in children under 10 of legal autopsies performed in Korea in 2016

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 2016

Values are presented as number (%).

Infancy, 1 month–1 year.

Table 14

Deaths, unusual deaths and autopsies in Korea from 2012 to 2016

Table 15

Cause of death of legal autopsies in Korea from 2012 to 2016

Values are presented as percentage.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Forensic Service (NFS2017MED04), Ministry of Interior, Republic of Korea.

Notes

^{Conflicts of Interest} No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

References

1. Kang DY, Kang HW, Kwak JS, et al. A textbook of legal medicine. Seoul: Jeongmungak;1995. p. 14.

2. Na JY, Park JP, Choi MS, et al. The statistical analysis of legal autopsies in 2011 (the headquarters of National Forensic Service). Korean J Leg Med. 2012; 36:165–173.

3. Na JY, Park JP, Park HJ, et al. The statistical analysis on legal autopsy performed in Korea during 2012 year. Korean J Leg Med. 2013; 37:198–207.

4. Jang SJ, Park JP, Choi BH, et al. The statistical analysis on legal autopsy performed in Korea during 2013 year. Korean J Leg Med. 2014; 38:145–154.

5. Jang JS, Jang SJ, Choi BH, et al. A statistical analysis of legal autopsies performed in Korea in 2014. Korean J Leg Med. 2015; 39:99–108.

6. Yoo SJ, Lee H, Noh SJ. Statistical analysis of legal autopsy cases performed in the Jeollabuk-do Province of Korea in 2016. Korean J Leg Med. 2017; 41:107–114.

7. Park JH, Na JY, Lee BW, et al. A statistical analysis on forensic autopsies performed in Korea in 2015. Korean J Leg Med. 2016; 40:104–118.

8. Statistics Korea. Statistics about cause of death in 2016 [Internet]. Daejeon: Statistics Korea;2017. cited 2017 Sep 22. Available from: http://kostat.go.kr/.

9. Korean National Police Agency. Police statistical yearbook 2016 [Internet]. Seoul: Korean National Police Agency;2017. cited 2017 Sep 22. Available from: http://www.police.go.kr/.

10. Korea Coast Guard. Statistics of sea disaster in 2016 [Internet]. Daejeon: Korea Coast Guard;2017. cited 2017 Sep 22. Available from: http://www.kcg.go.kr/.

11. Statistics Korea. Korea standard classification of disease (KCD) [Internet]. Daejeon: Statistics Korea;2015. cited 2015 Oct 1. Available from: http://kostat.go.kr/.

12. Hong CE. Pediatrics. 7th ed. Seoul: Daehan printing and Publishing Co.;2001. p. 15–16.

13. Na JY, Park JP, Yang KM, et al. A classification of asphyxia autopsy cases of the Korea in 2012 according to new classification of asphyxia. Korean J Leg Med. 2014; 38:8–12.

14. Korean National Police Agency. Guideline for processing unnatural death case. Seoul: Korean National Police Agency;2016.

15. Hoyert DL. The changing profile of autopsied deaths in the United States, 1972-2007. NCHS Data Brief. 2011; (67):1–8.

16. Kapusta ND, Tran US, Rockett IR, et al. Declining autopsy rates and suicide misclassification: a cross-national analysis of 35 countries. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2011; 68:1050–1057.

17. Kim HG, Park JW, Cho WY, et al. The discrepancy of the cause and manner of death between death certificates and autopsy reports. Korean J Leg Med. 2014; 38:139–144.

18. Huh GY, Kim KH, Jo GR, et al. Differences in the determination of cause and manner of 127 natural death cases by postmortem inspection and autopsy. Korean J Leg Med. 2013; 37:9–13.

TOOLS

Similar articles