Psychological Impact of Cadaveric Dissection on First-Year Medical Students

Abstract

Background This cross-sectional study was carried out to ascertain if first-time cadaver dissections can cause acute stress disorder (ASD) in medical students, and if death anxiety and gender play a role in the development of these symptoms. Methods A total of 135 first-year medical students at the Services Institute of Medical Sciences and King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan, who had recently conducted their first ever cadaver dissection filled out three scales: the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), the Appraisal of Life Scale (Revised) (ALS-R) and Death Anxiety Inventory. The results were then calculated via SPSS v.23. Any students with a history of psychiatric treatment or disorder were not included in the study. Results Scores on the IES-R showed that the sample suffered from symptoms of ASD (mean = 36.15, standard deviation = 15.99). Multilinear regression showed that death anxiety did not predict any variance on the scores for IES-R, whereas higher scores on the ALS-R threat domain scale predicted higher scores on the IES-R. Death anxiety had little to no impact on the scores for IES-R. Conclusion Results showed that students who perceived the dissection situation as threatening and anxiety inducing were more likely to test positively for ASD symptoms. A major limitation of the study was that it did not measure whether these symptoms reduced with repeated exposure to cadaver dissection or how symptoms changed over time.