ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 6 April 2005
Page Count: 5

Suicide: A Ten-Year Retrospective Review of Kentucky Medical Examiner Cases
Hunsaker, DM
Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Louisville, KY and the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, KY

Hunsaker, JC
Office of the Associate Chief Medical Examiner, Frankfort, KY and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, KY

Shields, LBE
Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Louisville, KY and the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, KY

(Received 2 August 2004; accepted 6 November 2004)

Abstract

Suicide, a manner of death, ranked as the eleventh leading cause of death in the United States and accounted for approximately 30,000 deaths in 2001. A host of biological and psychosocial components interplay in a suicide investigation. Precipitating factors may include domestic quarrels, loss of employment, financial difficulties, substance abuse, chronic disease, or mental illness. The authors conducted a ten-year (1993–2002) retrospective review of suicide from all Medical Examiners' Offices in Kentucky. There were 2,864 suicides ranging between 11 and 96 years (average age 42.0 years). The majority of victims were males (81.7%) and Caucasian (94.8%). African-American females comprised the smallest group, consisting of only 0.59%. The preferred mode of death was by firearm (67.5%), followed by hanging (13.7%), overdose (9.9%), and carbon monoxide poisoning (4.4%). This comprehensive study discusses the trends of suicide in the United States during the twentieth century and underscores the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to the investigation and prevention of suicide.

Keywords:
forensic science, forensic pathology, suicide, firearms

Paper ID: JFS2004345
DOI: 10.1520/JFS2004345
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