Table 1.

A comparison of the visible characteristics observed within 38 bruises on 25 children, according to their visible contrast, uniformity and diffuseness.

Contrast (score 1–5)	Uniformity		Diffuseness
	1 to 3 (consistent)	4 to 5 (patchy,inconsistent)	1 to 3 (clear boundary)	4 to 5 (diffuse boundary)
1 to 3 (clearly distinguishable)	7	5	6	6
4 to 5 (difficult to detect)	6	21	3	24

The classification for each characteristic was defined as follows: uniformity (1 = single, solid consistent, 5 = speckled, patchy inconsistent), diffuseness (1 = strongly evident clear boundary, 5 = highly diffuse, faint, fuzzy edges), and contrast (1 = bruise stands out clearly from the skin, 5 = bruise very hard to detect). For analysis purposes, scores of 1–3 and 4–5 combined.