ABSTRACT

Purpose:

The aim of this study is to assist in our national statistics by in-vestigating the causes of the deaths that occurred in a year in the Hospital of Gazi University Medical Faculty

Material and method:

The hospital records of the persons that died in the Hospital of Gazi University Medical Faculty in 2005, death information forms, MERNIS death reports, and Turkish Statistical Institute death statis-tic forms were investigated. The identified causes of death were classified according to ICD-10 (International Codes of Diseases) and analyzed

Results:

The male/female ratio of our cases is 1.23. The mean age is 56.7± 25.3, the highest percentage of cases is in the 70-79 age group with 25.4% (n=271). When our cases are investigated according to causes of death, cir-culatory system diseases rank first with 37.4% (n=398), followed by cancers with 24.7% (n=263). Furthermore, 11.8% (n=126) of the cases are forensic, and 69.0% (n=87) of all the forensic cases are deaths due to traffic acci-dents; 24.4% (n=260) of our cases died in the Emergency Department.

Conclusion:

It is required to educate the physicians of our hospital on ca-uses of death to record accurately and confidentially deaths on the deceased burial permission forms and death certificates being reported to the Turkish Statistical Institute