TY - JOUR A1 - Khanna, Kunal A1 - Pal, Vijay A1 - Malik, Anil A1 - Dagar, Tarun A1 - Garg, Varun A1 - Verma, Madhur T1 - Secondary data analysis of postmortem examination records at a teaching hospital in Northern India Y1 - 2020/4/1 JF - International Journal of Health & Allied Sciences JO - Int J Health Allied Sci SP - 181 EP - 187 VL - 9 IS - 2 UR - https://www.ijhas.in/article.asp?issn=2278-344X;year=2020;volume=9;issue=2;spage=181;epage=187;aulast=Khanna DO - 10.4103/ijhas.IJHAS_56_19 N2 - INTRODUCTION: Mortality data help in identifying the leading cause of death in populations and provide evidence to prioritize of disease prevention efforts. This study aims to describe the age and gender distribution and analyze the causes of fatalities certified after postmortem examinations to facilitate improved and more reliable certification of the cause of death. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This secondary data analysis is of data recorded from January 01, 2016, to December 31, 2017, in the postmortem registers of the forensic medicine and toxicology department of a medical college in Haryana. Probable time of death, time of conducting the postmortem examination, and the probable cause of death as per the police records are also entered in the register. The data were analyzed for age and gender distribution and cause of death. Diagnoses provided by postmortem examination were categorized. RESULTS: One thousand nine hundred and sixty-one postmortem examinations were conducted during the study period. About 52% of deceased persons belonged to the age group 21–40 years, 82.96% were male and 60% were from a rural area. Majority of deaths occurred at public places (57%). Deaths at home were more common among females (44%), while majority of deaths at public places occurred among males (59%). Unintentional deaths (74.50%) were more common. Deaths due to accidents were about 42.22%. CONCLUSION: Conventionally, the emphasis of postmortem examination has been viewed as serving the inquest. However, they now have an important role within public health such as surveillance and causes of death. There is a strong obligation to generate reliable information for formulating effective intervention policies. ER -