PATTERN OF CAUSE OF DEATH IN UNCLAIMED/ UNIDENTIFIED /UNKNOWN DEAD BODIES : A TWO YEAR RETROSPECTIVE STUDY.

Abstract

Patna is one of the largest city (both in terms of population and area) as well as the capital city of Bihar. Every year thousands of people from different regions of Bihar throng to the capital city in search of job. When these people die without any identifying document, it is very difficult to establish their identity and cause of death as their past medical and other histories are not known. The present 2 yrs. of retrospective study was undertaken to find the cause of death and its pattern in unknown/unidentified/ unclaimed dead bodies brought for autopsy at Nalanda Medical College & Hospital (NMCH),  Patna, between Jan 2016 to Dec 2017. A total of 829 cases were brought for medico-legal autopsy of which unknown cases accounted for about 14.95%. The manner of death was certified as natural in 32.25% of cases in which chest and abdominal disease combined were mainly responsible with a predominant pathology in the lungs (80% cases). Of all unnatural deaths (63.70%), road/rail accident injuries were most common (21.77%) cause of death followed by drowning (20.96%). There was a clear predominance of males cases (66.93%) over female one. The government should take initiatives at large to prevent unnatural deaths in unidentified or unknown persons. The study suggest an urgent need for creation of a National Missing Person Database  as well as DNA database to aid the identification of unidentified/unclaimed/unknown bodies.