Prevalence of substance use in fatal blunt trauma cases: A mortuary-based cross-sectional study

Background: Blunt traumas account for a huge number of unfortunate deaths, with road traffic accidents being a major contributor, followed by falls and drowning. Various studies found that being under the influence of alcohol or other substances of abuse exponentially increases the risk of having an accident. However, proper rules and regulations against substance abuse and injury prevention rely on official data. Objective: The objective of the study was to find out the relationship between substance abuse and blunt trauma cases in the state of Manipur. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the mortuary of a tertiary health care center in North-East India. The study was done from May 2022 to April 2024. All cases of blunt force trauma that were brought for medico-legal autopsy were included in the study. Results: From this study, it was found that the maximum number of victims were two-wheeler riders or pillion riders, and alcohol was detected in 29.7%, whereas psychoactive substance in 5.8%. A total of 35.5% of cases showed the presence of one or the other substance of abuse. Conclusion: From this study, it was seen that 35.5% of the victims had consumed alcohol or other psychoactive substances before the incident. Therefore, the government may take up stricter actions to control the unfortunate incidents.