Forensic medical evaluation of patients admitted to the emergency department due to the occupational accidents

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to emphasize the importance of occupational accidents and contribute to the data of our country by forensic medical evaluation of patients admitted to the emergency department. Methods: All 567 patients admitted to the Gaziantep University Hospital Emergency Department in 2013-2014 were examined based on their sociodemographic characteristics, types of accidents, injury zones, properties of forensic reports, duration of temporary disability, whether patients have health insurance, and whether the accident is life-threatening. Results: Five hundred and fifty-three (97.5%) patients were males and 14 (2.5%) were females. Accidents were frequently seen in the age group 25-34 (36.2%). Temporary forensic report was held to the 62.6% of the cases. Patients with life-threatening injuries accounted for 6.3% and injuries that were not resolved with simple medical intervention accounted for 57.5%. The most common mechanism for injury was penetrating sharp-object injury with a rate of 25% and fall from height (20%) followed it. Isolated upper extremity injuries were the most common injuries (48.2%). The number of patients discharged after treatment in the emergency service was 393 (68.1%). The overall mortality rate due to occupational accident was 1.2%. The majority of deaths occured by falling from height (71.4%). Conclusion: Detailed analysis of emergency data would help us understand the real causes of occupational injuries and prevent these accidents by taking simple precautions.

Analysis of Injuries and Deaths by Trauma Scores due to Occupational Accidents

“…Occupational accidents were most common in August (10.70%) and autumn (29.40%) in Ankara;[ 13 ] In Gaziantep, it occurred most frequently in May (11.10%) and spring (29.30%). [ 12 ] In this study, occupational accidents occurred most frequently in April (n=356; 9.89%) and spring (n=971; 26.98%) seasons. According to our study and studies in the literature, we think that the increase in work accidents in the spring and summer seasons may be related to the mobilization in the construction sector on these dates.…”

“…[ 1 ] In Turkey, there are studies reporting that occupational accidents occurred most frequently on Mondays,[ 13 , 14 ] as well as studies stating that they occurred most frequently on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. [ 10 – 12 ] In this study, occupational accidents occurred most frequently on Friday (n=595, 16.53%). Although some studies attribute occupational accidents to the lack of attention and compliance on the 1st day of the week, the data in our study and the literature demonstrates that occupational accidents include regional differences and depend on other dynamics.…”

“…In studies conducted in Turkey, the average age of occupational accident victims ranges from 30.70 to 36. [ 10 , 12 – 18 ] In general, occupational accidents were seen in the 25–39 age group. [ 12 – 14 , 18 ] However, there are also studies reporting that more occupational accidents were seen in the 18–29 age group.…”

“…[ 10 , 12 – 18 ] In general, occupational accidents were seen in the 25–39 age group. [ 12 – 14 , 18 ] However, there are also studies reporting that more occupational accidents were seen in the 18–29 age group. [ 16 , 17 ] In this study, the mean age of the cases was 34.90±10.50 (min: 13, max: 77) and the most common age group was 18–24 years (n=679, 18.90%).…”

The Medicolegal Evaluation of Occupational Injury Cases Applied to Emergency Department of Cumhuriyet University Hospital

“…Although occupational health and safety is considered an important issue in our country as well as in the world, every year many worker are injured or even lose their lives due to work accidents that could have been prevented. Work accident is one of the biggest risks that an employee may encounter in business life; It affects not only the employee but also his family financially and psychologically, and also it brings with it various problems that concern the employer and the state [7][8][9][10] . As in the majority of developing countries, there are difficulties in accessing actual data on work accidents in our country.…”