Abstract
A survery on sudden unexpected death, that is, death within 24 hours from acute onset, among Japanese workers was carried out. Questionnaires were sent to full-time occupational health physicians who were active members of the Japan Association of Industrial Health at the time of the survey. Though 241 doctors answered (response rate: 61.5%), only 53 of them who had had both sudden death cases and the desire to join in this research co-operated in this survery. During the 5 years of observation (from Jan. 1, 1986 to Dec. 31, 1990), 143 cases of sudden death, 141 males and 2 females, were reported. The mean age was 46.5 (S. D. 10.5) for males. The ages of the 2 females were 31 and 44. Onset took place most frequently at home (55%) and most often during sleep (26%). This may be due to the higher rate not only of onset but of death resulting from acute onset at home and during sleep. Similar to the previous findings, a small peak of incidence was found early in the morning (4 : 00 AM － 9 : 00 AM), although this was not statistically significant. However, the weekly and seasonal variations were a little different from previous reports. In this study, sudden death tended to occur more on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (not statistically significant), and as for the seasonal variation, more cases occurred in April, November, and December which were statistically significant. It is suggested that sudden death among Japanese workers may be in some degree attributable to occupational factors because during these months most workers are busier, and they are under more stress in the workplace. Although most causes of death among the 141 males were recorded as cardiovascular accidents (114 cases or 81%), they were rather unreliable because fewer autopsies were performed.
