Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess association between sociodemographic factors, presence of licit or illicit psychoactive substances, and types of legal death in Ceará state, Brazil. METHODS: Cross-sectional study based on autopsy data and toxicology tests on victims of cases registered by the Ceará Forensic Expert service, from 2015 to 2019. RESULTS: Of the 4,198 cases analyzed, 55.6% were positive for licit and/or illicit substances, with greater frequency of benzodiazepines (22.4%) and cocaine (21.7%) among males (45.0%), young adults (58.7%), single people (49.0%), and those with low education levels (52.8%). Association was found between benzodiazepines (29.5%) and tricyclic antidepressants (15.6%) and suicides; cocaine (28.1%) and cannabis (27.1%) and homicides; and cocaine (28.2%) and tricyclic antidepressants (5.9%) and suspicious deaths. CONCLUSION: Sociodemographic factors were associated with the use of psychoactive substances and types of legal death. Benzodiazepines and cocaine were the most frequent substances in suicide and homicide cases, respectively.