Alcohol and toxicological factors influencing fatal falls from height in the Greater Tokyo Area: a retrospective study

Falls from height pose a significant public health concern in urban regions, including the highly urbanized Greater Tokyo Area. The Japanese population is characterized by high rates of suicide and psychoactive drug usage, underscoring the importance of investigating these attributes in falls from h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of legal medicine 2024-05, Vol.138 (3), p.793-800
Main Authors: Wen, Shuheng, Unuma, Kana, Hanazawa, Ryoichi, Nagano, Shutaro, Watanabe, Ryo, Hirakawa, Akihiro, Uemura, Koichi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcohol use
Antidepressants
Drug abuse
Falls
Females
Forensic Medicine
Forensic pathology
Health risks
Intoxication
Males
Medical Law
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Megacities
Original Article
Populations
Psychotropic drugs
Public health
Regression analysis
Suicides & suicide attempts
Young adults
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Summary:Falls from height pose a significant public health concern in urban regions, including the highly urbanized Greater Tokyo Area. The Japanese population is characterized by high rates of suicide and psychoactive drug usage, underscoring the importance of investigating these attributes in falls from height. This study aimed to retrospectively analyze the alcohol and toxicological aspects influencing falls from height in the Greater Tokyo Area between 2014 and 2022 and compare the findings with existing reports on other populations. In total, 75 cases of falls from height and 159 cases of natural deaths were included. Consistent with previous findings, Fisher’s exact test revealed a predominance of males (66.67%, 50/75) and young adults (57.33%, 43/75) in falls from height. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified antidepressant usage as the most significant risk factor within the target population, while younger individuals under alcohol influence constituted another high-risk group. Notably, contradictory to other populations, female individuals involved in fatal falls in the Greater Tokyo Area exhibited a higher frequency of alcohol consumption than males (48.00%, 12/25 vs. 26.00%, 13/50), and most of them were associated with suicide (83.33%, 10/12). These findings elucidate the population characteristics that pose a high risk for fatal falls from height in Japan and can serve as a reference for other Asian populations residing in similar megacities.
ISSN:0937-9827
1437-1596
DOI:10.1007/s00414-023-03125-8