Contribution of the use of clavicle bone density in age estimation.

Age estimation is an essential element in the field of forensics and is also of judicial interest in forensic medicine of the living. Despite all the methods, age estimation is often imprecise with many biases, especially in mature individuals. The main objective of our study is to assess the correlation between age and computed tomography bone mineral density of the medial end of the clavicle. A sample of 180 chest multi-slice computed tomography scans without contrast injection performed in living individuals, with suspected respiratory infection, aged 15 to 100 years was used. Bone density measurement was performed on the medial meta-epiphyseal region of the clavicles. A significant negative correlation was found between bone density and age of individuals (p-value < 0.05). The mean absolute error was calculated for men at 13.4 years and 13.1 years for women, which was associated with an absence of bias. Good precision of the estimate for both sexes was also calculated on a subgroup of individuals whose age was greater than 40 years, with average absolute errors of about 12 years, which was associated with an absence of relative error. In view of our preliminary results, the study of bone density of the medial end of the clavicle could be of interest in the estimation of age. Several studies will be necessary to evaluate the reproducibility of these results on independent bone samples and in the estimation of age in the living individual.

Characterization of Domestic Violence among Patients Consulting a French Psychiatric Emergency Department.

The aim of the present study was to identify the prevalence of domestic violence among patients attending a French psychiatric emergency department and its association with psychiatric disorders. This retrospective study was performed, including all patients examined in the psychiatric emergency department of the Lapeyronie University Hospital of Montpellier (France) in the daytime from 1 July 2021 to 31 October 2021. A total of 152 patients were eligible during this study period. The prevalence of domestic violence was 38.2% (n = 58) overall. The percentage of female victims of domestic violence was higher than that of male victims (47.6% vs. 17.0%, p < 0.001). Among the 58 victims of domestic violence, 20.7% reported psychological abuse, 17.2% physical abuse, 3.4% sexual abuse, and 58.6% multiple forms of abuse. The risk of suicide attempt and anxiety disorder among the female patients was associated with domestic violence (p = 0.006, OR = 7.24, and p = 0.010, OR = 0.16). Our study showed that the psychiatric population should be identified as a population at risk for domestic violence, especially when the patient is female and suffers from anxiety disorders or if she has performed a previous suicide attempt.