Summary of full DU5C reviews in 2017

  • In 2017, the full DU5C reviewed 57 cases.
  • Of the cases reviewed by full DU5C, 63% (36) involved male children and 37% (21) female children.
  • Of the cases reviewed by the full DU5C, the manner of death was 89% (51) undetermined, 7% (4) natural and 4% (2) accident.
  • Of the cases reviewed by the full DU5C, 89% (51) involved children less than one year old.
  • Of the cases reviewed by the full DU5C, 11% (6) involved children aged one to five years.
  • Of the cases reviewed by the full DU5C involving children less than one year, the manner of death was  6% (3) natural, 4% (2) accident and 90% (46) undetermined.
  • Of the cases reviewed by the full DU5C involving children aged one to five years, the manner of death was 17% (1) natural, and 87% (5) undetermined.
  • Cases reviewed by the Full DU5C in 2017 involved deaths that occurred in 2014 (2), 2015 (7), 2016 (40) and 2017 (8).

Summary of executive reviews in 2017

  • In 2017, the executive team reviewed 66 cases.
  • Of the cases reviewed by the executive team, 58% (38) involved male children and 42% (28) female children.
  • Of the cases reviewed by the executive team, 46% (30) involved children less than one year old.
  • Of the executive reviews involving children less than one year, the manner of death was 80% (24) natural, 7% (2) undetermined, 13% (4) accident and no homicides.
  • Of the cases reviewed by the executive team, 55% (36) involved children aged one to five years.
  • Of the executive reviews involving children aged one to five years, the manner of death was 47% (17) natural, 42% (15) accident, 6% (2) undetermined and  6% (2) homicide.
  • Collectively, for all executive team reviews, the manner of death was 62% (41) natural, 29% (19) accident, 3% (2) homicides and 6% (4) undetermined deaths.
  • Cases reviewed by the executive team involved deaths that occurred in 2013 (1), 2014 (1), 2015 (5), 2016 (38) and 2017 (21).

Total cases reviewed by the DU5C (executive team and full committee) in 2017

  • In 2017, there were 66 cases reviewed by the executive team and 57 cases reviewed by the full DU5C, for a combined total of 123 cases. 
  • Of all cases reviewed by the executive team and full DU5C, 60% (74) involved male children and 40% (49) female children.
  • Collectively, for all executive team and full DU5C reviews, the manner of death was 37% (45) natural, 17% (21) accident, 2% (2) homicide and 45% (55) undetermined.
  • Of the cases reviewed by the executive team and full DU5C in 2017, 87% (107) involved deaths that occurred in 2016 and 2017.

Analysis of findings 

Chart 7A: Manner of death – executive vs. full DU5 reviews (2016) (n=146) and Chart 7B: Manner of death – executive vs. full DU5 reviews (2017) (n=123)

  • Charts 7A and 7B demonstrate the difference in findings of manner of death between cases reviewed by the executive and full DU5C reviews in 2016 and 2017. The majority of executive reviews involved natural deaths. The majority of full DU5C reviews involved deaths where the manner was undetermined.

Chart 8A: Manner of death based on age (<1yr vs. 1-5 yrs) and level of review (executive vs full DU5 committee) – 2016 (n=146) and Chart 8B: Manner of death based on age (<1yr vs. 1-5 yrs) and level of review (executive vs full DU5 committee) – 2017 (n=123)

  • Charts 8A and 8B demonstrate the manner of death categorized by age for both the executive and full DU5C in 2016 and 2017.  The majority of executive reviews of natural deaths involved children less than one year old.  The majority of full DU5C reviews of undetermined deaths involved children less than one year old.

Chart 9A: Percent of total DU5 reviews based on region (2016) (n=146)

  • Chart 9A demonstrates that 34% of all DU5C referrals in 2016 came from Central Region, 29% of referrals came from West Region, 27% of referrals came from the East Region and 10% of referrals came from the North Region.footnote *

Chart 9B: Percent of total DU5 reviews based on region (2017) (n=123)

  • Chart 9B demonstrates that 34% of all DU5C referrals in 2017 came from Central Region, 37% of referrals came from West Region, 15% of referrals came from the East Region and 14% of referrals came from the North Region.

Footnotes