title: The diagnostic value of clinical examination after falanga--a pilot validation study.
abstract: Medico-legal documentation of alleged exposure to falanga torture warrants a high diagnostic accuracy of the applied clinical tests. The objective of this study was to establish data on the validity of palpatory examination of the footpads and the plantar fascia and to assess the distribution of observations among selected cases and non-cases in a small study sample. Calculated estimates of sensitivity and specificity of the individual diagnostic tests are reported and, in general, did not meet the authority-based criteria of an 80% cut-off point. The observed total number of true tests in this study was 65 %. It is concluded that future studies of the reliability of clinical examination and assessment of the variability of observations among unselected cases and non-cases should be conducted in a larger cross-sectional study population.
authors.affiliation: The Parker Institute, Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark. Kirstine.Amris@fh.hosp.dk
authors.forename: Kirstine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Amris
authors.forename: Ole Vedel
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Rasmussen
authors.forename: Turkcan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baykal
authors.forename: Veli
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lök
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D036981:Fasciitis, Plantar / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods; D006365:Heel / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010173:Palpation / Q000379:methods*; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000379:methods; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D014104:Torture / Q000145:classification; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology