ReviewInternational journal of legal medicine2022
How safe is BDSM? A literature review on fatal outcome in BDSM play.
Review in International journal of legal medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Why Sexual Choking Is Not as Safe as You Think: A Call to Action from Sex Researchers and Kink Educators.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Review
- Experiences and Perceptions of Risk Among Australian Men Who Have Sex with Men Who Engage in Sexual Strangulation.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Article
- Prevalence and Demographic Correlates of "Rough Sex" Behaviors: Findings from a U.S. Nationally Representative Survey of Adults Ages 18-94 Years.Archives of sexual behavior · 2025Article
- The Association Between Sexual Victimization History and Consensual and Nonconsensual Rough Sex: Findings from a U.S. Nationally Representative Survey.Psychology of violence · 2025Article
- Choking/Strangulation During Sex: Understanding and Negotiating "Safety" Among 18-35 Year Old Australians.Archives of sexual behavior · 2025Article
- Prevalence of Sexual Strangulation/Choking Among Australian 18-35 Year-Olds.Archives of sexual behavior · 2025Article
- Sexual choking/strangulation and its association with condom and contraceptive use: Findings from a survey of students at a university in the Midwestern United States.Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health · 2024Article
- BDSM Safety in Pornography: Its Perceived Accuracy and Impact on Practitioners' Safe Word Practices.Archives of sexual behavior · 2024Article
- The Psychology of Kink: A Cross-Sectional Survey Investigating the Association Between Adult Attachment Style and BDSM-Related Identity Choice in China.Archives of sexual behavior · 2024Article
- Deaths during Sexual Activity.Acta medica Lituanic · 2024Article
- #ChokeMeDaddy: A Content Analysis of Memes Related to Choking/Strangulation During Sex.Archives of sexual behavior · 2023Article
- Frequency, Method, Intensity, and Health Sequelae of Sexual Choking Among U.S. Undergraduate and Graduate Students.Archives of sexual behavior · 2022Article
- Frequent and Recent Non-fatal Strangulation/Choking During Sex and Its Association With fMRI Activation During Working Memory Tasks.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
A noteworthy number of people are interested in BDSM (bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism, and masochism). Fatal outcomes while participating in BDSM activities occur. The aim of this literature review is to give a better insight into potential dangerous BDSM play by summarizing published data on BDSM fatalities. A literature search was conducted. It was searched for non-natural death related to BDSM activity. Seventeen cases were found. The age of the deceased ranged between 23 and 49 years (mean age 34.9 years). Strangulation in the course of erotic asphyxiation was the most common cause of death (88.2%). In 13 cases, a toxicology report for the deceased was mentioned, of which in eight cases (61.5%) toxicology analysis was positive. In four of these cases, the BDSM partner was also tested positive with the same substance. Drugs or alcohol was involved in 64.3% of fatal BDSM play. In nine cases, the level of experience in BDMS activity of the deceased and the partner was described, and in all of them, the deceased and the partner were not new to BDSM play. Fatal outcomes of BDSM plays are rarer than autoerotic fatalities and natural deaths related to sexual activities. Safeguards and education on medical aspects exist in the BDSM communities. If they are followed by the practitioners, the risks of BDMS play can be reduced. Cases of non-natural death connected to BDSM are rare incidents and can be prevented.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.