Study of various demographic factors affecting average rate of cooling of cadavers in tropical climate of central India

Introduction: To understand the different aspects of average rate of cooling (ARC) in detail, is very important step for understanding algor mortis in order to determine time since death in early post-mortem interval, as the classic triad of so-called thanatochronological data is constituted by algor mortis, rigor mortis and livor mortis. This paper is a humble trial to show some light in the direction of average rate cooling of cadavers in relation to different demographic indicators, personal and environmental effects in tropical climate of central India. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out on 173 randomly selected cadavers which were brought for autopsy in department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal. Following data were collected – age, gender, height, weight, ambient room temperature and rectal temperature. Data was analysed by using SPSS software. Result: Average rate of cooling was found – more in males (1°F/hour) as compared to females (0.8°F/hour), more in underweight persons (1.2 °F/hour) as compared to obese (0.7 °F/hour), more in cold environment (1.8 °F/hour) as compared to hot environment (0.7 °F/hour), and extreme age group was found to have extreme rate of cooling.