Background
Material and method
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Autopsy identification number
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Age of the deceased
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Group size (< 10 participants, 11–20 participants, > 20 participants)
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Percentage dropout rate
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Cause of death group (trauma, natural death, further clarification required)
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Type of introduction (short or detailed)
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Age group
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Gender
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Occupational group or course of study (including semester)
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First time or repeated participation in a postmortem examination
Results
Description of the total cohort
Motivation to participate | Complete or predominant agreement (%) |
---|---|
1. Participation was a mandatory event | 47.5 |
2. If I could have avoided it, I would not have participated | 6.9 |
3. I participated out of personal curiosity | 80.1 |
4. I participated to test my anatomical knowledge | 40.8 |
5. I participated because it is a unique opportunity | 71.0 |
6. I participated because I wanted to know if I could “handle” it | 37.0 |
7. I felt sufficiently professionally prepared | 64.5 |
8. I felt sufficiently emotionally prepared | 70.1 |
9. It was important for me to touch the body/prepared organs | 21.5 |
Evaluation of the autopsy | Complete or predominant agreement (%) |
---|---|
10. The explanations of the question on the occasion of the autopsy were understandable | 96.6 |
11. The explanation of the process/methods was sufficient | 93.7 |
12. The presentation of the anatomy was understandable | 94.1 |
13. The presentation of the findings was understandable | 93.3 |
14. The explanation of the evaluation of the findings (presentation of the content of the expert opinion) was sufficient | 91.2 |
15. The handling of the body met my expectations | 77.9 |
16. My positive expectations were met | 83.0 |
17. My negative expectations were fulfilled | 14.2 |
18. I see a dissection as a necessary medical measure | 92.7 |
19. I would volunteer to participate in observing a postmortem examination again | 76.6 |
20. Even if there is an official need, I would try to avoid participation | 7.2 |
Reasons for discontinuation (n = 66) | Complete or predominant agreement (%) |
---|---|
21. I have “problems” with deceased/dead people in general | 11.7 |
22. I am frightened by the measures (opening of the body) | 26.7 |
23. I realized from the case that my life is also finite and thus have problems | 16.7 |
24. My circulation is “collapsed”, I don’t know why | 57.4 |
25. I do not consider the measures taken to be an adequate way of dealing with deceased persons | 6.7 |
26. My fears/negative expectations were exceeded | 18.6 |
Recording differences between occupational groups and study programs
Personal motivation (20a) | Comprehensibility autopsy (25a) | Positive expectations (20a) | Reasons for termination (30a) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Medical students 3rd semester | 15.59 | 22.66 | 17.56 | 16.71 |
Medical students 8th or higher semester | 12.48 | 23.08 | 17.26 | 6.00 |
Lawyers/law clerks/law students | 13.37 | 23.00 | 16.51 | 13.54 |
Police recruits and officers | 14.01 | 22.69 | 17.11 | 12.31 |
Medicine-ethics-law course | 14.13 | 22.92 | 18.43 | 14.00 |
Medical assistant professions | 16.00 | 24.18 | 17.91 | 12.50 |
Other | 14.39 | 21.86 | 17.05 | 18.00 |
Dropout rates
Question | Medical sector n = 389 (in %) | Nonmedical sector n = 395 (in %) | p value |
---|---|---|---|
1. Participation was a mandatory event | 37.0 | 58.6 | < 0.001 |
2. If I could have avoided it, I would not have participated | 4.4 | 9.6 | 0.003 |
3. I participated out of personal curiosity | 83.8 | 76.6 | 0.003 |
4. I participated to test my anatomical knowledge | 53.8 | 28.4 | < 0.001 |
5. I participated because it is a unique opportunity | 72.3 | 69.6 | 0.659 |
6. I participated because I wanted to know if I could “handle” this | 30.7 | 43.6 | < 0.001 |
7. I felt sufficiently professionally prepared | 77.8 | 51.4 | < 0.001 |
8. I felt sufficiently emotionally prepared | 74.4 | 65.6 | 0.280 |
9. It was important for me to touch the body of the deceased person/the prepared organs myself | 23.7 | 15.8 | < 0.001 |
10. The explanation of the question on the occasion of the autopsy was understandable | 97.0 | 96.3 | 0.215 |
11. The explanation of the process/methods was sufficient | 93.8 | 93.7 | 0.193 |
12. The presentation of the anatomy was understandable | 94.9 | 93.4 | 0.200 |
13. The presentation of the findings was understandable | 95.3 | 91.4 | 0.019 |
14. The explanation of the evaluation of the findings was sufficient | 93.4 | 89.3 | 0.001 |
15. The handling of the body met my expectations | 74.7 | 81.2 | 0.059 |
16. My positive expectations were met | 87.7 | 78.6 | 0.024 |
17. My fears/negative expectations have been met | 9.9 | 18.7 | 0.001 |
18. I see a dissection as a necessary medical measure | 93.4 | 92.6 | 0.671 |
19. I would volunteer to participate in observing a postmortem examination again | 84.7 | 68.9 | < 0.001 |
20. Even if there is an official need, I would try to avoid participation | 4.7 | 9.0 | < 0.001 |