Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, Victoria, Australia; Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University, Victoria, Australia; Monash Addiction Research Centre, Victoria, Australia.
Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, Victoria, Australia; Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
Forensic Sci Int. 2023 Apr;345:111621. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111621. Epub 2023 Feb 27.
One-punch assaults also known as 'coward punches', are characterised by a single severe blow to the head causing the victim to lose consciousness, resulting in a secondary impact between the head and surrounding environment. Such impacts may result in brain injury leading to fatality or permanent neurological impairment. In a previous publication, there were 90 one punch deaths around Australia between 2000 and 2012, mostly involving young men drinking alcohol at a licensed venue at the weekend. This prompted a surge of public education and awareness campaigns around Australia, in addition to regulatory and legislative changes aimed at curbing social violence. This retrospective descriptive study aimed to examine one punch deaths since 2012 in Australia to determine if there has been a decrease in deaths, and whether the demographics and circumstances of these deaths have changed. A search of the National Coronial Information System was undertaken for all closed coronial cases between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2018. Additional information was collected from medicolegal reports including toxicology, pathology and coronial findings. There were 80 one punch fatalities in Australia, almost exclusively involving males. The median age was 43.5 (range 18-71) years and there was a decreasing trend in the number of deaths annually. Most fatal assaults occurred in the state of New South Wales (28.8%) followed by Queensland (23.8%), and in metropolitan locations (64.6%) rather than regional areas (35.4%). Alcohol was the most commonly detected drug, found in 47 cases of the 71 cases where toxicology results were available (66%), with a median concentration of 0.14 and 0.19 g/100 mL in antemortem and postmortem samples, respectively (range 0.005-0.32 g/100 mL). Five deaths reported methylamphetamine, with THC detected in 21.1% of cases. Assaults more commonly occurred on a footpath or roadside (41.3%), followed by a home or dwelling (32.5%). 8.8% of assaults occurred inside hotels, bars or other licenced venues. Most transpired on a weekday, which differed from the pre-2012 period when these assaults occurred mainly on the weekend. While some trends are positive, there has been a shift in the victim demographic as well as the typical environment for fatal one punch assaults, highlighting the importance of public health surveillance in providing a current evidence base to inform policy and practice.
一拳袭击也被称为“懦夫拳”，其特征是头部受到单次严重打击，导致受害者失去意识，从而导致头部与周围环境之间的二次冲击。这种冲击可能导致脑损伤，导致死亡或永久性神经损伤。在之前的一份出版物中，2000 年至 2012 年期间，澳大利亚有 90 例一拳致死事件，主要涉及在周末在有执照的场所饮酒的年轻男性。这促使澳大利亚开展了一波公众教育和宣传活动，以及旨在遏制社会暴力的监管和立法改革。本回顾性描述性研究旨在检查自 2012 年以来澳大利亚的一拳致死事件，以确定是否死亡人数有所减少，以及这些死亡事件的人口统计学和情况是否发生了变化。对 2012 年 1 月 1 日至 2018 年 12 月 31 日期间所有已结案的死因裁判官案件进行了国家死因裁判官信息系统搜索。从法医学报告中收集了包括毒理学、病理学和死因裁判官调查结果在内的其他信息。澳大利亚有 80 例一拳致死，几乎完全涉及男性。中位年龄为 43.5 岁（范围 18-71 岁），每年死亡人数呈下降趋势。大多数致命袭击发生在新南威尔士州（28.8%），其次是昆士兰州（23.8%），以及大都市区（64.6%），而不是偏远地区（35.4%）。酒精是最常见的检测到的药物，在 71 例毒理学结果可用的病例中，有 47 例（66%）发现了酒精，在死后样本中，中位浓度分别为 0.14 和 0.19 g/100 mL（范围为 0.005-0.32 g/100 mL）。有 5 例报告了甲基苯丙胺，有 21.1%的病例检测到了四氢大麻酚。袭击更常见于人行道或路边（41.3%），其次是家庭或住所（32.5%）。8.8%的袭击发生在酒店、酒吧或其他持牌场所内。大多数发生在工作日，与 2012 年之前主要发生在周末的情况不同。虽然一些趋势是积极的，但受害者人口统计学和致命一拳袭击的典型环境都发生了变化，这凸显了公共卫生监测的重要性，它为提供当前的证据基础以告知政策和实践提供了依据。
