[Living and dying alone. An epidemiological study of deaths outside institutions in Oslo in 1989].

This study is based on data on autopsies performed at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, National Hospital, Oslo, in 1989. Solitary men and women were compared with non-solitary men and women with respect to causes of death and manner of death. Solitary men died more often from potentially curable diseases, especially pneumonia. These individuals had often suffered from chronic alcoholism and had lived in central Oslo. Among women there were no differences in the causes of death of solitary and non-solitary individuals.