ABSTRACT

To determine the epidemiological features of forensic cases treated in a military hospital.

217 forensic cases treated in the Van Military Hospital emergency room between October 1 and December 31 2005 were retrospectively analyzed. Reasons for admission, sex, month, day, hour and injury type and results were evaluated.

The forensic cases (n: 217) constituted 5.2% of all emergency room patients (n: 4114). The mean age of the sample was 23.16±7.68 and the range was 2-55 years. Of the patients, 89.1% were male and 10.1% female. Traffic accidents were in the among first rank admission seasons (34.1%), while battery were in the secondrank (22.6%) and gunshot injuries third (21.2%). Forensic patients most commonly attended the emergency room in October (18.9%) and July (15.7%), on Fridays (23.0%), and between the hours 08:00 and 15:59 (51.6%). Mixed type injuries were most common (30.4%); 26.7% of the patients were treated on an outpatient basis and 12.4% required hospitalization.

The etiologies of forensic cases in military hospital differed from those of civilian hospitals in the same region. Gunshot injuries were the third leading cause after traffic accidents and battery. Determination of the characteristics of forensic patients could be helpful for emergency room regulation and preparation for these conditions and effective emergency care services.