A cross-sectional study on knowledge of registered medical practitioners, regarding management of medico-legal cases in Meghalaya

INTRODUCTION: Medico-legal issues are handled by every registered medical practitioner in their day-to-day medical practice but if they are not well versed with rules of managing such cases and laws behind them, they often land into criticism and are distressed at the courts while disposing of the cases. OBJECTIVE: To assess the knowledge of registered medical practitioners in Meghalaya regarding the management of medico-legal cases in day-to-day medical practices. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study, conducted at the Department of Forensic Medicine, North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) for 6 months. The study group included registered medical practitioners working in the government sector who were approached through the Director of Health Services (DHS), Meghalaya. Study tools included one preformed and pretested questionnaire. Knowledge was assessed along with designation and years of experience. A P value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: From 94 subjects analyzed for their answers, 56% had adequate knowledge. Amongst nonspecialist doctors (n = 53), 52.8% had adequate knowledge and amongst specialist doctors (n = 34), 67.6% had adequate knowledge in various aspects of management of medico-legal cases, and it was found that 6.4% had adequate knowledge in documentation, 21.2% in consent, 3.2% in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 71.2% in autopsy, 88.2% in legal duties in emergency care. A total of 68.7% of those having 16–20 years of experience had adequate knowledge. Chi-square test of designation and years of experience on knowledge was found to be 0.33 and 0.75, respectively. CONCLUSION: Nearly half of the registered medical practitioners of Meghalaya have adequate knowledge. However, years of experience and designation have no significance with the knowledge of registered medical practitioners regarding the management of medico-legal issues.