Fatal alcohol intoxication in women: A forensic autopsy study from Slovakia

Abstract

BackgroundPlenty of information related to alcoholism can be found in the literature, however, the studies have mostly dealt with the predominance of male alcoholism and data related to addiction in women are desperately scarce and difficult to find. Basic demographic data focusing on the impact of acute alcohol intoxication on the circumstances of death and social behaviour in the alcohol addicted female population are needed especially in the prevention of alcohol related mortality.MethodsA retrospective forensic autopsy study of all accidental deaths due to alcohol intoxication over a 12-year period was performed in order to evaluate the locations, circumstances, mechanisms and causes of death.ResultsA sample of 171 cases of intoxicated women who died due to blood alcohol concentration (BAC) equal to or higher than 2 g/kg was selected. Among them 36.26% (62/171) of women died due to acute alcohol intoxication (AAI). We noted an increase in the number of deaths in women due to AAI from 2 in 1994 up to 5 in 2005 (an elevation of 150% between the years 1994-2005). The age structure of deaths in women due to BAC and AAI followed the Gaussian distribution with a dominant group of women aged 41-50 years (45.16% and 35.09% respectively). The most frequent place of death (98%) among women intoxicated by alcohol was their own home. The study suggests a close connection between AAI and violence against women.ConclusionsThe increasing number of cases of death of women suffering from AAI has drawn attention to the serious problem of alcoholism in women in the Slovak Republic during the process of integration into "western" lifestyle and culture.

Forensic appraisal of death due to acute alcohol poisoning: three case reports and a literature review

“…A study in Slovakia showed that death due to acute alcohol poisoning (AAP) accounts for a significant proportion of all deaths related to alcohol consumption [ 10 ]. Similar results have been found in women [ 11 ]. Death due to AAP is a serious consequence of heavy drinking.…”

Black Esophagus: Acute Esophageal Necrosis in Fatal Haloperidol Intoxication

“…In our autopsy case, we interestingly did not identify the typical risk factors for black esophagus which are mentioned in the literature such as age, male gender, underlying organic disease, severe alcohol consumption, etc. (5,7,9,12,29,30). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of acute esophageal necrosis in association with combined intoxication with three various types of antipsychotics.…”

Identifying Those Whom Health Promotion Hardly Reaches

“…Articles reported young, middle, and old “age” to identify hardly reached individuals. In the category “sex,” each of male and female were used to identify individuals as hardly reached (Straka et al, 2011; Vandelanotte et al, 2013). Within the six categories in the cultural and environmental domain, “social network” included both low and high social support (Nelson et al, 2012; Riggs et al, 2014).…”

“…Older adults were hardly reached due to limited mobility and access to health services (Hinrichs et al, 2011). Sex was associated with reach based upon power relations—advantage to males and/or expected gender roles—females more likely to participate (Straka et al, 2011; Vandelanotte et al, 2013). What attributes cause interventions to fail to reach their intended audiences clearly depend on multiple factors surrounding the interventions and their audiences.…”