A method suggestion to measure the effectiveness of informed consent during treatment process: A study on university students

It is difficult and subjective to evaluate how much of the treatment information given has been understood by the patient during the informing process. Various court decisions show that courts expect a hundred percent success in the informing process. This research was conducted to observe the effectiveness of written and verbal information given under ideal conditions. A coronary angiography consent form was standardized to measure readability and understandability. Two different labyrinth tests were performed from the text. Tests were performed on the Baskent University students in Turkey. The labyrinth test’s subjects responded to the test after verbal information, had an absolute rate of 32.5% while the labyrinth test’s subjects, responded to prior verbal information had an absolute success rate of 15%. 87.7% of those who achieved absolute success, in the second labyrinth test, also received verbal information. In the verbally informed group, those who achieved absolute success in the first test were 8.5%, while this rate increased to 28.5% after verbal information. There was no difference between the groups, in terms of the number of correct answers and response time, in the first test. Significant differences between the groups’ tests arose in the test administered after being informed. This paper argues that the difference of total correct answers between the groups, in the post-test, stems from the effects of verbal informing. This study observed that verbally informing is more effective than written informing. It concludes that the success of the informing process can be measured by developing standardized methods, though it is unlikely to achieve 100% success. © 2019, William S. Hein & Co., Inc.. All rights reserved.KA 10/125This study was approved by the Baskent University Medical and Health Sciences Research Council (Project no: KA 10/125) and supported by a Başkent University Research Fund

Secondary victimization of traffic accident victims: Getting buried without the declaration of forensic case and without having performed autopsy [Trafik kazasina maruz kalan olgularda ikincil magduriyet: Adli olgu bildirimi yapilmadan veya otopsi uygulanmadan defnedilme]

BACKGROUND:In this study, it was aimed to analyze the cases of traffic accident related deaths, buried without performing autopsy, in order to increase awareness of the physicians about declaration liability of forensic cases and also emphasize the declaration of the forensic case and autopsy importance. METHODS: In the First Specialization Board of Council of Forensic Medicine, 542 cases of death, reported between the years 2004–2008, who were involved in traffic accidents and buried without an autopsy performed, were evaluated retrospectively. RESULTS: It was found that 69.4% of the cases (n=376) were males, whereas %30.6 (n=166) were females; mean age was 58.5±20.9 (range, 3–98 years). Age 61 and above was the most frequent age group with 301 cases (55.5%). Of the cases, 336 (62.0%) had died in hospital, 241 (44.5%) had died in 1–12 months following the accident and medico-legal corpse examination was performed only in 123 (22.9%) cases. Three hundred fourty-four (63.5%) of the cases were not reported as forensic cases and death certificate was signed by any physician other than medical examiner without being declared as a legal case. According to the decisions of Board, since an autopsy was not duly performed, the cause of death could not be determined for 95 cases (17.5%) and for 57 cases (10.5%), it was not possible to determine whether there was causality between the accident and death. DISCUSSION: Our findings emphasize the importance of declaration of forensic cases and performing autopsy in time in traffic accident victims. © 2016 TJTES

A test of the Whitaker scoring system for estimating age from the bones of the foot

Within the literature pertaining to skeletal age estimation, there is a paucity of statistically validated methods of age estimation from the foot. Given the prevalence of recovery of pedal elements in isolation, it is critical that methods exist to facilitate the estimation of age from this anatomical region and that those methods be tested to ensure they are reliable, repeatable and statistically robust. A study was carried out to determine the validity of using the Whitaker method of age estimation from the bones of the foot as a tool in forensic age estimation within a modern Scottish population. Two-hundred and sixty radiographs from individuals aged between birth and 18 years were assessed according to the Whitaker method; the results were compared with chronological age. The results of this study suggest that the method of Whitaker et al. is highly unlikely to estimate the age of females below 16 years of age or males below 18 years of age correctly. When the methodology was altered to correspond with best practice principles of age estimation, the estimated age ranges were found to be too wide to be of practical value in forensic age estimation. The results of this study therefore suggest that the Whitaker method for estimating age from the bones of the foot should not be used in forensic age assessment

Bone Geopolitics: Bone Age and the Racialization of Growth in UK and US Pediatrics (1940-1980)

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