Evaluation of occupational factors influencing the experience of an autopsy demonstration

Abstract

Abstract Background Autopsy demonstrations have been an integral part of medical school, medical and nonmedical education for many decades; however, a direct comparison of the experience of an autopsy demonstration of different groups of participants is missing so far. In this study, the experience of such a situation by the different professional groups was analyzed and discussed in order to improve future dissections for the participant groups. Methods Evaluations of 54 autopsy demonstrations were performed at the Institute of Legal Medicine of the University Hospital Halle (Saale) and the branch office in Magdeburg in the period 2017–2020. A total of 794 questionnaires were answered and statistically analyzed. Participants rated the autopsies in various question categories and, if applicable, provided reasons for discontinuation of the demonstration on their part (e.g., circulatory dysregulation). To analyze the results the Kruskall Wallis test, the Mann-Whitney U-test and the χ2-test were applied. Results Findings showed that the professional background has a significant influence on the experience and the dropout rates from an autopsy. Furthermore, the professional groups have different areas of interest and expectations of an autopsy. Conclusion The results require customized preparation of an autopsy demonstration as well as differentiation of knowledge transfer to different groups of participants to optimize their benefit.