Abstract
In the US, there are no national statistics on encountering a dead body, which can be viewed as a measure of community health and a stressful life event. Participants for an HIV prevention intervention targeting drug users were recruited in areas of inner-city Baltimore, Maryland. Nine hundred and fifty-one respondents, most with a history of drug use, were asked “have you ever found a dead body?” and 17.0% reported they had. Leading causes of death were: violence (37%), natural causes (22.2%), drug overdose (21.6%), accidental death (3.1%), and suicide (2.5%). In multivariate logistic models, respondents with longer history of drug use and more roles in a drug economy were more likely to be exposed to a dead body. The study results suggest that this population has a high level of experiences with mortality associated with violence and drugs. To obtain a better understanding of community health, future studies should assess not only morbidity and mortality, but also how death and illness is experienced by the community.
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Latkin, C., Yang, C., Ehrhardt, B. et al. The Epidemiology of Finding a Dead Body: Reports from Inner-City Baltimore, Maryland US. Community Ment Health J 49, 106–109 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-012-9492-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-012-9492-3