RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THE RESULTS OF PERSONAL INJURY AND PRECAUTIONARY EXAMS. BEFORE AND DURING

Abstract

Introduction: The covid-19 pandemic revealed the world’s vulnerability in dealing not only with an unknown disease, but also with socio-economic and violent difficulties and consequences, quite harmful to society. Objectives: To analyze the reports of the forensic examinations of personal injuries and precautionary measures carried out at IML Estácio de Lima – Maceió/AL, from 2018 to 2021, considering the changes that could be observed before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Material and methods: Documentary, epidemiological, descriptive, and analytical study through sampling. The variables considered were: gender, age group, origin, verification of the occurrence of bodily harm, the instrument and means used in the aggression, in addition to the answers to the official questions related to bodily harm. Results: Of a total of 2208 reports, 743 were investigations resulting from bodily injury and 1465 were precautionary investigations. The highest percentage of the analyzed reports was of precautionary expertise, constituting 66.34% of the total, with a prevalence of males, representing 92.01%. Regarding the body injury expertise, there was a higher prevalence of females in the age group from 21 to 30 years. Discussion: It was observed that there was no relevant change in the expertise in the previous period and during the pandemic, as precautionary expertise was already predominant, maintaining the predominance of male, young adults. Regarding the body injury expertise, the female gender was more prevalent, representing 63.52% of the reports analyzed during the study. The most evident injuries were those produced by blunt instruments without associations, in a total of 1048, with mild bodily injuries predominating. Conclusion: In view of the findings the authors conclude that there was no significant quantitative or qualitative change related to the analyzed expertise, before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Keywords: covid-19, personal injury, violence, medico-legal expertise.