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Volume 18, Number 4—April 2012
CME ACTIVITY - Research

Determinants for Autopsy after Unexplained Deaths Possibly Resulting from Infectious Causes, United States

Lindy LiuComments to Author , Laura S. Callinan, Robert C. Holman, and Dianna M. Blau
Author affiliations: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Main Article

Table 4

Association between having undergone autopsy and demographic characteristics of decedents 1–49 years of age and clinicopathologic syndrome for unexplained deaths possibly resulting from infectious causes, Arizona*

Characteristic No. (%) decedents No. (%) autopsies Adjusted odds ratio (95% CI)
Total 2,097 (100.0) 696 (33.2)
Race
White 1,648 (78.6) 580 (35.2) Reference
Black 148 (7.1) 53 (35.8) 1.0 (0.7–1.5)
Other† 301 (14.4) 63 (20.9) 0.5 (0.4–0.7)
Age group, y
1–17 211 (10.1) 94 (44.5) 1.9 (1.4–2.6)
18–39 728 (34.7) 277 (38.0) 1.6 (1.3–2.0)
40–49 1,158 (55.2) 325 (28.1) Reference
Syndrome
Gastrointestinal 25 (1.2) 15 (60.0) 1.8 (0.8–4.1)
Neurologic 54 (2.6) 28 (51.9) 1.2 (0.7–2.1)
Respiratory 319 (15.2) 142 (44.5) 0.9 (0.7–1.2)
Cardiovascular 213 (10.2) 59 (27.7) 0.4 (0.3–0.6)
Sepsis/shock 428 (20.4) 62 (14.5) 0.2 (0.2–0.3)
Multisyndrome 348 (16.6) 56 (16.1) 0.2 (0.2–0.3)
Unknown/other 710 (33.9) 334 (47.0) Reference

*By multivariate logistic regression analysis. Numbers reflect decedents for whom autopsy information was available; autopsy status was not available for 0.2% of the 2,102 persons who died of unexplained causes. Variables are independently associated with autopsy.
†American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Other Asian, Native Hawaiian, Guamanian or Chamorro, Samoan, Other Pacific Islander, and Other.

Main Article

Page created: March 16, 2012
Page updated: March 16, 2012
Page reviewed: March 16, 2012
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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