Аннотация
Aim: To study potential misclassification of deaths from alcohol poisoning as cardiovascular deaths in Yakutsk, Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, North-East Siberia. Methods: All deaths from 2007 to 2018 registered at the Bureau of Forensic Expertise (BFE) in Yakutsk comprised the study base (n = 9 708). Data on underlying cause of death, age, gender and blood alcohol concentration (BAC) were obtained from the medical records at the BFE. Proportions of cases with BAC > 0 %, 2.50-3.99 %, 4.00-4.99 % and 5.00 % or more among those who had codes I00-I99 as an underlying cause of death (n = 4 067). All analyses were performed separately for men and women for the following age-groups: 15-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and 70 + years. Analyses were replicated for underlying causes of death coded as C00-D48 and J00-J99. BAC > 4,0 % was considered as potentially lethal dose. Results: Altogether, 37.6 % of men and 51.0 % of women who died from diseases of circulatory system had BAC > 0 % Proportions of cases with BAC of 4 % or more among those aged 15-29 years were 6.7 % for men and 16.6 % for women. Corresponding proportions for age-groups 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and 70 + years were 8,9 %, 7,6 %, 4,8 %, 4,9 %, и 1,2 % among men and 18,3 %, 10,3 %, 13,8 %, 4,0 % и 1,5 % among women. The highest proportion of cases with BAC > 4,0 % was observed among women aged 15-29 years (42.9 %) and among women aged 30-39 years (37.5 %). Conclusions: Contrary to the results of the earlier studies in the European part of Russia our findings suggest that a substantial proportion of sudden cardiac deaths and deaths from diseases of circulatory system in general could be caused by alcohol poisoning particularly among women