In this study, all the available and relevant data on post-mortem cases that went through toxicological analyses by the Forensic Toxicology Lab of Pavia in the period of 2017-2022 are analyzed. Through these analyses, various patterns and trends of drug-related deaths taking place in the province of Pavia are demonstrated. These trends and patterns are about various factors. These factors involve different types of drugs found in the blood and urine analyses, which include several types of opioids, cocaine, benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, antidepressants and new psychoactive substances. Other factors include the age ranges, gender, effects of COVID-19 and causes of death. Cut-off values are determined for the drugs with a higher possibility of being involved in drug-related deaths and most of the trends were determined considering these cut-off values. Later, the actual causes of death are introduced and the reasons of discrepancy between the cut-off values and causes of death are discussed. The analyzed results are compared with the data from Europe, Australia and the United States. This comparison revealed significant similarities with the European countries and significant differences, particularly regarding the drug types, with the U.S. and Australia. To increase the quantity of data and obtain more precise trends and patterns of drug-related deaths in the province of Pavia, certain enhancements are required to be made in different departments.
In questo studio, vengono analizzati tutti i dati disponibili e rilevanti sui casi post-mortem sottoposti ad analisi tossicologiche dal Laboratorio di Tossicologia Forense di Pavia nel periodo 2017-2022. Attraverso queste analisi, vengono evidenziati vari modelli e tendenze delle morti collegate all’uso di droghe che si verificano nella provincia di Pavia. Questi trend e modelli riguardano vari fattori. Questi fattori coinvolgono diversi tipi di droghe trovate nelle analisi del sangue e delle urine, che includono vari tipi di oppioidi, cocaina, benzodiazepine, antipsicotici, antidepressivi e nuove sostanze psicoattive. Altri fattori includono gli intervalli di età, il sesso, gli effetti del COVID-19 e le cause di morte. Sono determinati i valori di soglia per le droghe con una maggiore probabilità di essere coinvolte nelle morti correlate alla droga e la maggior parte dei trend è stata determinata considerando questi valori di soglia. Successivamente, vengono presentate le cause effettive della morte e vengono discusse le ragioni della discrepanza tra i valori di soglia e le cause della morte. I risultati analizzati sono confrontati con i dati provenienti da Europa, Australia e Stati Uniti. Questo confronto ha rivelato significative somiglianze con i paesi europei e significative differenze, in particolare riguardo ai tipi di droga, con gli Stati Uniti e l'Australia. Per aumentare la quantità di dati e ottenere tendenze e modelli più precisi delle morti correlate alla droga nella provincia di Pavia, sono necessari alcuni miglioramenti in diversi dipartimenti.
Drug-related Deaths: A Retrospective Study on the Post-mortem Cases Evaluated by the Forensic Toxicology Lab of the University of Pavia in the Period 2017-2022
SEMERCIOGLU, FERIDE
2023/2024
Abstract
In this study, all the available and relevant data on post-mortem cases that went through toxicological analyses by the Forensic Toxicology Lab of Pavia in the period of 2017-2022 are analyzed. Through these analyses, various patterns and trends of drug-related deaths taking place in the province of Pavia are demonstrated. These trends and patterns are about various factors. These factors involve different types of drugs found in the blood and urine analyses, which include several types of opioids, cocaine, benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, antidepressants and new psychoactive substances. Other factors include the age ranges, gender, effects of COVID-19 and causes of death. Cut-off values are determined for the drugs with a higher possibility of being involved in drug-related deaths and most of the trends were determined considering these cut-off values. Later, the actual causes of death are introduced and the reasons of discrepancy between the cut-off values and causes of death are discussed. The analyzed results are compared with the data from Europe, Australia and the United States. This comparison revealed significant similarities with the European countries and significant differences, particularly regarding the drug types, with the U.S. and Australia. To increase the quantity of data and obtain more precise trends and patterns of drug-related deaths in the province of Pavia, certain enhancements are required to be made in different departments.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/16814