Comparative Study of the Awareness Regarding the Medicolegal Reporting of injuries Among Medical Students and Residents in Sohag University Hospital

Abstract

The medicolegal report written by physicians must prove the relationship between an injury and an alleged prohibited act. This affects the judges' opinions in criminal cases. This cross-sectional study aims to assess the awareness of resident doctors at Sohag University Hospital about the medicolegal reporting of injuries compared to grade-five medical students. The participants were asked to fill out an online questionnaire that included pictures of seven types of wounds to identify the medical, Arabic term of the wound, causative instrument, legal classification, and expected healing time. One hundred twenty-nine respondents (85 students and 44 residents) were included in this study. The students' group showed significantly higher results compared to the residents' group in three questions: causative instrument of a stab wound, medical term of the lacerated wound, legal type of fracture (p-value: 0.022, 0.026 and 0.007 respectively) While residents' group had better results regards causative instrument of contusion, medical term and recovery time for the fracture (p-value: 0.041, 0.019 and 0.037 respectively). The total score of correct answers for each participant in both groups showed a homogeneous distribution with a mean+ SD of 26.5±3.6 in the students' group and 25.8±3.7 in the residents' group. There was no statistically significant difference between both groups regarding total score (p-value:0.321). In conclusion, although both students and the residents' group had a comparable level of knowledge, this level does not reflect the expected experience among the resident's group. It is recommended to hold frequent workshops to enhance the physicians' medicolegal reporting of injuries.