The causes of non-natural deaths in children over a 15-year period in greater Cape Town

Abstract

This study was undertaken to describe the causes of non-natural death in children aged under 15 years in the Cape Peninsula. Information was abstracted from the official death register kept at the South African Police Mortuary in Cape Town for the period of 1 July 1966-30 June 1981. During the 15-year period 3 248 medicolegal autopsies were performed on children under 15 years of age who had died of non-natural causes. There were significantly higher percentages of Coloureds and Blacks, males, and children aged under 6 years in the sample than in the general population aged under 15 years in the Cape Peninsula. The majority of deaths (54,4%) were caused by road traffic injuries. Other important causes of deaths were burns (12,8%), drowning (11,0%), assault/abuse (5,4%) and poisoning (3,3%). Special attention was paid to the causes of fatal head injuries--head injury alone was given as the cause of death in 819 autopsies (25,2%). The majority of fatal head injuries (72,4%) were also caused by road traffic accidents. This study demonstrates the alarming number of deaths from non-natural causes among children aged under 15 years in the Cape Peninsula. The finding that more than half of these deaths were due to road traffic accidents indicates the impact that successful intervention could have.