The Survey of Mortality Rate in Under Two Years Old Children Based on Forensic Autopsy Findings of Isfahan Province, Iran

Investigating the causes of child death and preventing preventable cases has an important role in the health and productivity of the family and society, because according to the age of children, it can have a great financial and psychological burden on the family and society. Due to the few studies conducted in this field in the country, the purpose of this study was to investigate the causes of death of children under 2 years of age based on autopsy findings.

In this cross-sectional and retrospective study, the cases of 57 children under two years old (26 boys and 31 girls) who were referred to Isfahan Forensic Medicine Center during 2018 and 2019 were examined and the causes of death and demographic and clinical characteristics were extracted. The obtained data were analyzed using χ2 statistical test and and Fishers exact test.

In terms of distribution of causes of death, 46% were natural deaths, 9% were asphyxia, 9% were home accidents, 19% were traffic accidents, 7% were sudden death syndrome and 10% were due to various causes. There is a statistically significant difference between cause of death and age group, place of death, history of disease and type of delivery (P<0.05) but there is no statistically significant difference between cause of death and sex, nationality, history of maternal disease, mother's age and mother's job (P>0.05).

Considering the ability to take preventive measures against abnormal deaths and its trend in the country, it is necessary to make future policies in order to promote legal investigations in order to ensure the health and safety of children.