Epidemiological Study of Unnatural Death among Childrens in Varanasi Area (India)

Introduction: Children are the worlds most important resource. Pediatric autopsy mainly includes postmortem examination of unnatural childhood deaths up to the age of 19 years. Aim of the study: To determines the epidemiological features and highlight outcome of pediatric unnatural deaths in Varanasi area. Material& method: The present retrospective study has been conducted for the period of 5 consecutive years i. e.2009 to 2013 based on autopsy record of the unnatural death cases among childrens deaths. During study period total numbers of unnatural death cases were 10195 and deaths among childrens were 1367. These cases were brought to the Department of Forensic Medicine, IMS, BHU, Varanasi and have been analyzed retrospectively. Result: Total number of cases which were autopsied in the 5 year study period was 10195 out of which 1367 (13.41 %) were pediatric unnatural deaths. Most of the unnatural deaths in pediatrics age 895 (65.47 %) were in the age group of 12-19 years. In our study out of 1367 cases there were 773 males (56.55 %) and 594 females (43.45 %).707 cases (51.72 %) died due to accident, most of the death due to road traffic accident.41.33 %. Rural habitat 88.37 %. Hindu religions 89.83 % and most of the death I summer seasons 38.99 %. Discussion Death among childrens has a marked effect on resources and management outcomes in the family and community. An epidemiological assessment of causes of death among childrens is needed for increased awareness of health problems in this population group, allocating public-health resources and appropriately developing strategies for prevention. Conclusion: Analysis of data for retrospective study suggests that age, sex, habitat, religion and manner of death significantly affect community.