Body mass index (BMI) and forensic autopsy: association with procedural duration, technical complexity and operator vigilance
Isabella Aquila, Matteo Antonio Sacco · 2026
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Description
Aquila and Sacco study how a deceased person's body size changes the autopsy itself. Their 2026 prospective study timed fifty consecutive medico-legal autopsies for natural deaths, half on obese bodies and half on non-obese controls matched for age and sex, all following one strict protocol. The operators also took a vigilance test, the Mackworth Clock Test of sustained attention, before and after each case to see how demanding dissections wear down concentration.
Obese cases took markedly longer, averaging roughly thirty-five minutes more from first incision to organ removal on the study's timing, and were rated far more technically difficult. Attention suffered accordingly: missed signals on the vigilance test roughly doubled after obese cases compared with controls. The authors argue rising obesity means forensic units should plan staffing, scheduling, and double-checking around the heavier cognitive load these cases impose.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Isabella Aquila, Matteo Antonio Sacco |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 30 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |