Frequency of unnatural deaths in Fars province during a Five-year period

Background: The study of the mortality patterns in each country helps to improve proper programming to reduce the number of deaths. Our effort was to study the frequency of unnatural deaths from 2006 to 2010. Methods: In the present cross-sectional research carried out to study the cases of unnatural deaths in Fars province between 2006 and 2010, all documents related to unnatural deaths in Fars Forensic Medicine Registry (FFMR) were investigated. Information about the deceased, including age, gender, education, and type of accident, was extracted and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21.0. Results: The findings indicated that during the five-year period studied a total number of 10079 unnatural deaths occured. During the study period, unnatural deaths had a decrease. The most recurring cause of death was traffic accidents (38%), with the death caused by substance abuse (19.2%) and burns (9.5%) the second and the third leading causes of death. Of all deaths, 81% of the deceased were male. The highest frequency of deaths occurred in the age group of 20 to 29 years. Also, the highest number of deaths belonged to individuals with primary and middle school education (52%). Conclusion: The number of unnatural deaths decreased as the time went by. Unnatural deaths were more frequent in males and in young people and happened more in people with lower education. Implementation of correct policies and appropriate programs focusing on these high risk groups could lead to considerable prevention of unnatural deaths.