[Permanent disability and the insurance estimation process].
BACKGROUND
The casualties are indemnified according to two processes. First by transaction on rate proposition of insurance physicians, and the second process on rate proposition by a medical expert assigned by law-court. Indemnification scale failure justifies the Interafrican Conference of insurance Markets code adoption.


METHODS
Six insurance societies and the Automotive Guarantee Fund were debtors. Only 627 victims had been indemnified between 1986 and 2003. Expert valuations done at forensic medicine service were the support of the investigation. Inquired parameters were insurance societies, regulation type, aftermaths and the retained prejudices. The data collected on computer card have been analyzed by software Epi Info.


RESULTS
The partial permanent inabilities fixed since its adoption differ to inabilities fixed before this adoption. Transaction process concerned 567 victims (90.4%). Sixty victims were indemnified by judicial way. According to process type, the rates fixed in judicial process were 61.6% middle permanent partial inabilities. After 1997, there have observed a decrease in the high and middle permanent partial inabilities in the two processes. The appreciation of the pretium doloris is more subjective but must repair the aftermaths. The middle pretium was majority in the two processes, before and after 1997 with a high decrease of the middle pretium in the transaction process (-15.07) and a small pretium increase of 10.98 points.


CONCLUSIONS
A common scale code has decreased the judicial litigation concerning casualties in spite of scales' limits. Only the patients with important aftermaths arrive in the judicial process since 1997.
Soumah
M M
MM
Service de médecine légale et médecine du travail, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Sénégal.
Mbaye
I
I
Ndiaye
M
M
Bah
H
H
Gaye Fall
M C
MC
Sow
M L
ML
D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D006801:Humans; D007344:Insurance Claim Reporting; D018868:Insurance, Disability; D012675:Senegal