Chronic alcoholism in a forensic material. 1. Social parameters in alcoholics.

An investigation was performed on material from deceased from the Copenhagen County, examined at the Institute of Forensic Medicine during the period 1985-1989. The basis and the reliability of the diagnosis of chronic alcoholism in a forensic post-mortem material is discussed. The frequency of alcoholics in the autopsy material varied between 25 per cent and 30 per cent annually. The frequency of women was significantly lower than that of men. The alcoholics were generally younger than controls, they were more often divorced, but cohabited with the same frequency as controls. Both the alcoholics and the controls belonged mainly to the lowest social classes. Alcoholics lived in flats and died in the living room more often than controls. Special attention is given to persons dying in bathtubs and on staircases. The interval between 'last seen alive' and 'found dead' was significantly longer in alcoholics, signifying loss of social network. Both alcoholics and controls generally lived under poor social conditions, more pronounced in the former.