Patterns Of Clinical Media-Legal Cases: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Objective: To determine the pattern and socioeconomic characteristics of medico-legal cases presented to the District Quarter Hospital Charsadda Methods: This retrospective study analysed 500 patient records from the DISTRICT HEAD QUARTER HOSPITAL CHARSADDA. It focused on various types of medicolegal cases (MLC), including firearm incidents, physical assault, poisoning, road traffic accidents, sexual assault, and sharp injuries. The study utilised a consecutive sampling technique and excluded cases with incomplete records, deceased individuals, and non-Pakistani nationals. Statistical analysis, including the Pearson Chi-Square test, was conducted to explore the patterns of MLC about gender, age, and residence. Results: The mean age was 30.7±8.6 years. The females were 251(50.20%) while the males were 249(49.80%). The pattern of Medico-Legal Cases (MLC) is presented, highlighting the frequency and percentage for each type. The most common was Road Traffic Accidents having 200(40%) followed by physical assault present in 104(20.80%). Sharp injuries were recorded in 95 cases, representing 19.00% of the total MLC. Poisoning cases were observed in 25 instances, constituting 5.00% of the total MLC. Sexual assault was reported in 56 cases, accounting for 11.20% of the total MLC. Firearm incidents accounted for 20(4%) of the total MLC. Among firearm incidents, 6.4% were female and 1.6% were males. For physical assault, 34% were female and 7.6% were male. Similarly, in poisoning and sexual assault cases, the percentages of females were higher compared to males. Sharp injuries had 26% female and 12% male. There is a significant association between gender and the MLC type (p<0.001). For firearm incidents, 5.6% occurred in rural areas and 2.4% in urban areas. A higher proportion of physical assault, poisoning, and sharp injury cases were reported in urban areas. Road traffic accidents occurred more in urban areas than in rural areas. These differences were highly significant (p=0.001). The distribution of incidents across different age groups did not show significant variation for any of the incident types (p=0.88) Conclusion: Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) were the predominant type of Medico-Legal Cases (MLC), followed by physical assault and sharp injuries. Females were more commonly affected by physical assault, sexual assault, and poisoning, while males had a higher prevalence of RTAs.