ABSTRACT

Arrangement of disability reports is one of the routine practices of forensics. Experts' legal responsibilities on this subject have enhanced the importance of arrangement of disability reports. In this study, it is aimed at emphasizing the responsibilities of experts on disability reports and the factors to be considered during preparation of reports by sociodemographic and medical features of the cases applied to The Forensics Department of Ege University Faculty of Medicine.

The disability reports prepared between 01.01.2011-31.12.2014 were evaluated in terms of age, sex, occupation, date of report, the authority of claims, the type of event, the date of event, consultations, diagnosis, the disability type, the disablement degree, and recovery period of cases and also whether if there is a discretion usage within the decision, reports prepared before and the differences between reports were also evaluated. Data analyzed by statistical program.

It was observed that 319 disability reports prepared and the number of the reports increased according to the years within 4 years during which the examination was conducted. 237 cases were male and 82 were female. The mean age was 38.5±15.1. 74% of them were injured due to the traffic accident and the orthopedic defects came into prominence. The disablement degree was 100% within 18 cases.

Experts could choose a disability type or decrease the disability degree by their discretion, if they don't find the disability type or disablement degree in legislation. This situation causes arrangement of the reports with different disablement degrees by different experts. Also the differences may frequently occur between the reports prepared before and after the recovery time. It is considered that a modification must be made in line with requirements of the regulation, the procedure of report must be redefined and an arrangement must be made regarding the usage style of discretion.

Keywords: Forensic Medicine, Disability, Expert witness.