Inhalant deaths in South Australia: a 20-year retrospective autopsy study

Wick, Regula; Gilbert, John D; Felgate, Peter; Byard, Roger W (2007). Inhalant deaths in South Australia: a 20-year retrospective autopsy study. American journal of forensic medicine & pathology, 28(4), pp. 319-22. Hagerstown, Md.: Wolters Kluwer Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 10.1097/PAF.0b013e31815b48b0

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A 20-year retrospective study of inhalant deaths in South Australia, autopsied at Forensic Science SA, was undertaken from January 1983 to December 2002. Thirty-nine cases were identified from an autopsy pool of 18,880 cases, with a male to female ratio of 12:1. Sixty-four percent of the victims (N = 25) died during voluntary inhalation of volatile substances and 28% (N = 11) committed suicide utilizing a volatile substance or gas. The remaining 3 cases involved a workplace accident (N = 1) and 2 cases of autoerotic death where inhalants were being used to augment solitary sexual activity. The mean age of the 28 victims of accidental inhalant death of 21 years (range, 13-45 years) was considerably less than that of the 11 suicide victims of 31.5 years (range, 17-48 years). No homicides were found. Approximately one quarter of the victims were Aboriginal (N = 11), 10 of whom had died as a result of gasoline inhalation ("petrol sniffing"). Other common substances of abuse were aliphatic hydrocarbons such as butane. The study has shown that those most at risk for accidental or suicidal inhalant deaths were young males, with 92% of victims overall being male, and with 77% of victims being under 31 years of age. Gasoline inhalation remains a significant problem in Aboriginal communities in South Australia.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Legal Medicine
UniBE Contributor:	Wick, Regula
ISSN:	0195-7910
ISBN:	18043019
Publisher:	Wolters Kluwer Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Language:	English
Submitter:	Factscience Import
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2013 14:56
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:17
Publisher DOI:	10.1097/PAF.0b013e31815b48b0
PubMed ID:	18043019
Web of Science ID:	000251355900009
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/23914 (FactScience: 45132)