How reliable is the Spanish bodily harm assessment scale?

Abstract The use of scales to quantify or qualify bodily harm resulting from an unintentional car accident has been mandatory in Spain since 1995 and compensation for personal injuries resulting from a traffic accident is calculated according to a legal ruling established by Royal Decree 8/2004 (RDL...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of forensic and legal medicine 2015-05, Vol.32, p.16-20
Main Authors: Ordóñez-Mayán, Lucía, Represas, Carlos, Miguéns, Xoan, Rodríguez-Calvo, María Sol, Febrero-Bande, Manuel, Muñoz-Barús, José Ignacio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents, Traffic
Assessment bodily harm
Forensic medicine
Hospitalization
Humans
Injuries
Observer Variation
Pathology
RDL 8/2004
Reliability
Reproducibility of Results
Scale
Spain - epidemiology
Traffic accidents & safety
Trauma Severity Indices
Wounds and Injuries - classification
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Summary:Abstract The use of scales to quantify or qualify bodily harm resulting from an unintentional car accident has been mandatory in Spain since 1995 and compensation for personal injuries resulting from a traffic accident is calculated according to a legal ruling established by Royal Decree 8/2004 (RDL). This present study assesses the reliability of the scale. Agreement between the evaluations for the same patient by 24 qualified observers following the Royal Decree 8/2004 was measured using the Kappa index. The variables assessed were the days of hospitalization, impeditive days, non impeditive days and the functional and aesthetic sequelae. The application of the Fleiss Kappa index obtained a result of 0.37, indicating a “fair agreement” according to the rating scale proposed by Landis and Koch. This study demonstrates the unreliability of the Spanish medical scale for the assessment of injury as described in the RDL 8/2004. The scale should adopt the measurement systems and clinical classifications of outcomes such as the ASIA, SCI scale or the Daniels scale of neurological injury and allow scientific discussion of the findings of the report. The resulting quantitative value should operate as a reliable indicator of a specific quality of the damage.
ISSN:1752-928X
1878-7487
DOI:10.1016/j.jflm.2015.02.007