Summary
During the period 1980 through 1989 a total of 1029 cases of fatal poisoning (638 men and 391 women) were examined at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark. In 68% of the cases death had been caused by drugs, whereas acute alcohol poisoning and carbon monoxide accounted for 15% and 14% of the cases, respectively. Alcohol was detected in more than half of the 1029 fatal poisoning cases, and in 42% of all cases the blood alcohol concentration was above 0.8 g/kg. In 57% of the cases death was categorized as accidental, only in 31% of the cases as suicide. Accidental deaths were especially predominant amongst drug and/or alcohol abusers. Propoxyphene was the drug found to have caused most fatal poisonings during the decade (30% of the drug-related deaths). Most of the propoxyphene-related deaths occurred during the early and mid-eighties. Barbiturate poisonings were quite frequent during the first half of the eighties. However, the number of deaths caused by barbiturates decreased significantly after 1986, when most barbiturates were withdrawn from the market. The number of deaths caused by narcotics and analgesics increased during the survey period, while no specific tendency was observed concerning antidepressants.
Zusammenfassung
Während des Zeitraums 1980 bis 1989 wurden insgesamt 1029 Fälle tödlicher Vergiftungen (638 Männer und 391 Frauen) in der Abteilung für Forensische Medizin der Universität Aarhus, Dänemark, untersucht. In 68% der Fälle war der Tod durch Medikamente verursacht, während Alkoholvergiftung und Kohlenmonoxid für 15% bzw. 14% der Fälle standen. Alkohol wurde in mehr als der Hälfte aller 1029 tödlichen Vergiftungsfällen gefunden und in 42% aller Fälle war die Blutalkoholkonzentration höher als 0.8 g/kg. In 57% der Fälle war der Tod als Unfalltod kategorisiert, in nur 31% der Fälle als Suizid. Unfalltodesfälle waren besonders herausragend bei Personen mit Drogen und/oder Alkoholmißbrauch. Propoxyphen war die Droge, welche die meisten tödlichen Vergiftungen während des Jahrzehnts verursacht hatte (30% der medikamentenbezogenen Todesfälle). Die meisten der Propoxyphen-bezogenen Todesfälle ereigneten sich in den frühen und mittleren 80er Jahren. Barbiturat-Vergiftungen waren ziemlich häufig während der ersten Hälfte der 80er Jahre. Jedoch nahm die Zahl der Todesfälle durch Barbiturate signifikant nach 1986 ab, als die meisten Barbiturate vom Markt genommen wurden. Die Zahl der Todesfälle durch Narkotika und Analgetika nahm während des Übersichtszeitraums zu, während mit Antidepressive keine spezifische Tendenz beobachtet wurde.
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Kaa, E., Gregersen, M. Fatal poisonings in Jutland (Denmark) during the 1980s. Int J Leg Med 105, 133–138 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01625164
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01625164