Comparison of Medico-Legal Cases Presenting to the Emergency Department Before and After the February 6, 2023 Turkey–Syria Earthquakes

Abstract

Among natural disasters, earthquakes cause the greatest destruction and are the most devastating. In this study, we examined medico-legal cases presenting to the emergency department and investigated the effect of the earthquake on medico-legal incidents in the society.

Medico-legal cases that presented to the emergency department of a tertiary level training and research hospital within the 6-month period prior to February 6, 2023 (the date of the earthquakes) and within the 6-month period after the earthquakes were reviewed and compared. Due to the retrospective design of the study, the requirement for informed patient consent was waived.

During the study period, 9,679 medico-legal cases presented to the emergency department, and 8,247 met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 4,978 occurred in the pre-earthquake period and 3,269 in the post-earthquake period. The demographic characteristics differed between periods, with a higher proportion of female patients and a higher mean age in the post-earthquake period. The distribution of medico-legal case types shifted significantly following the disaster. While custody-forensic examinations were the most frequent category prior to the earthquakes, their numbers notably declined afterward, making traffic accidents and assault–battery the predominant cases. Notably, suicide-related poisonings increased among patients without a previous history of psychiatric illness, and there was a marked rise in carbon monoxide exposure and construction-related occupational injuries.

The disaster and its subsequent socio-economic disruptions profoundly altered the profile of medico-legal cases presenting to the emergency department. The observed increase in traffic accidents, construction-related occupational injuries, and atypical poisoning patterns underscore the necessity for customized post-disaster public health interventions and agile resource allocation in emergency care systems.