Autoerotic death: incidence and age of victims - a population-based study

Abstract

Review of the Australian National Coronial Information System and the Swedish National Forensic Database was undertaken over a 7-year period from 2001 to 2007 for all cases where death had been attributed to autoerotic death or sexual asphyxia. In Australia, there were 44 cases (M:F = 42:2) with the majority of victims aged >30 years (77%)—a yearly national rate of approximately 0.3/million. In Sweden, there were nine cases (M:F = 9:0) with the majority of cases aged <30 years (55%)—a yearly national rate of approximately 0.14/million. The usual male predominance was present in both populations, although the Australian victims were older than is usually reported. Lethal sexual asphyxia is uncommon in both the Australian and Swedish populations, with a lower rate than has been cited for North America. Whether this is because of different kinds of paraphilic activities in different populations or of differences in methods of central data collection is uncertain.