Forensic Pathologist Consensus in the Interpretation of Photographs of Patterned Injuries of the Skin

The study found that consensus among participants averaged 0.77 for general diagnosis and averaged 0.72 for specific diagnosis. Although there was a strong correlation between consensus and confidence in aggregate, individual correlations were poor. Consensus diagnosis was inversely correlated with age, and positively correlated with jurisdictional size, medical degree, and whether or not the respondent was actively performing autopsies as a job function. A subsequent survey is exploring possible reasons for lack of consensus in low-consensus questions. The high correlation between confidence and consensus at the aggregate level and low correlation at the individual level may have implications for quality assurance protocols. (Publisher abstract modified)