[To die alone, a big city problem?]

The question whether being found dead is a problem related to living in a big city was examined by using death certificates from a 3-month period in 1994. The rates of persons found dead were higher for both sexes in the City of Copenhagen than in the rural County of Storstrøm. The age distribution showed that the rate increased with advancing age. The vast majority were found dead in their own home, although the rate was higher in Copenhagen than in Storstrøm. Whereas the manner of death was natural for the majority of cases in both areas, more deaths with an uncertain manner of death were recorded in Copenhagen than in Storstrøm (32% vs 9%). In general, suicide or accident was more often reported in those found dead in the County of Storstrøm than in those in Copenhagen. The cause of death was unknown in 46% of deaths in Copenhagen where 16% had died from external causes, proportions that were 58% and 21%, respectively, in Storstrøm. The rate of legal autopsies was higher in subjects with an uncertain manner of death than in the rest, and was also associated with an age below 40 years. We conclude that being found dead is related to living in a big city, although the reason(s) for this remains unidentified.