PhD Scientific Days 2026

Poster Session 2.E - Pathological and Oncological Sciences

Level of Detail in Forensic Autopsy Reports: A Quantitative Analysis of Soft Tissue Injuries

Name of the presenter

Gyenes, Gábor

Institute/workplace of the presenter

Institute of Languages for Specific Purposes, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

Authors

Gábor Gyenes¹, Tanja Germerott², Cleo Walz², Katalin Fogarasi¹
1: Institute of Languages for Specific Purposes, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
2: Department of Forensic Medicine, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

Text of the abstract

Research has shown that clinical records often contain insufficient detail for accurate forensic assessment of injury mechanisms and weapons, particularly in the case of soft tissue injuries in Hungary, Austria and Germany. In order to identify best practices in injury documentation, a study of forensic autopsy reports was conducted. It was found that these reports provide more detailed descriptions of injuries than clinical records due to time constraints and differences in injury classification. Despite the fact that autopsy reports document postmortem injuries, the types and characteristics of injuries are consistent with those observed in living patients.
The present study examined 375 forensic autopsy reports from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz including 7215 injuries. The relevant data were processed in Microsoft Excel and numerical codes were assigned to injury characteristics and injury types. Analysis of the level of detail in the injury descriptions was conducted. Independent sample t-test was performed to compare the level of detail based on injury severity and Welch-test was performed to compare the level of detail among anatomical regions using IBM SPSS Statistics 26 software. The study assessed whether the level of detail in forensic autopsy reports was consistent considering location and severity.
A significant difference was found in recorded location elements between injuries without skin disruption (M = 2.64; SD = 0.87) and with disruption (M = 2.72; SD = 0.86), p = 0.006. Welch tests also showed significant differences in both location detail and recorded injury characteristics across anatomical regions (p < 0.001)
The findings demonstrate that the level of detail in injury documentation varies significantly by injury type and anatomical location, indicating the need for standardized, forensic-oriented terminology to improve the quality of clinical records. The findings of this study, if implemented, could improve the quality of clinical documentation for forensic purposes and bridge the gap between medical and forensic assessment by improving the curriculum and teaching materials for medical students.
SUPPORTED BY THE 2025-2.1.1-EKÖP-2025-00014 UNIVERSITY RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME OF THE MINISTRY FOR CULTURE AND INNOVATION FROM THE SOURCE OF THE NATIONAL RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION FUND.