[Analysis of the types of death before and after public prosecutor's investigations in Baden-Württemberg].

Difficulties in diagnosing the cause of death have been widely discussed in the literature. However, studies on the quality assurance of the determination of the manner of death and the results of public prosecutor investigations are rare. In this study, data from six public health departments in Baden-Württemberg on all deaths from 2016-2018 were analyzed. Significant differences were found between the individual public prosecutor's districts with regard to the type of death determined during the medical post-mortem examination. In 6.3 [4.5-7.4]% of all deaths, the public prosecutor's offices initiated investigations. In 6.0 [4.3-8.5]% of these investigations, an autopsy was performed. A significant difference between the public prosecutor's districts could not be demonstrated in this regard.