The attitude of people with an Arabic Islamic cultural background toward medico-legal autopsy

Abstract

Medico-legal (forensic) autopsy is an important element in the investigative process of any suspicious death. People’s reactions toward a forensic autopsy vary among cultural and religious beliefs. This research has studied the reaction of the general public in Saudi Arabia (Arabic and Islamic cultural backgrounds) toward this procedure with the aim of exploring the cultural and religious influence on their attitude. An online survey of the awareness and attitude toward the forensic autopsy was distributed to Saudi people across different ages and educational levels. A total of 1866 persons responded to the questionnaire with the majority falling between the ages of 21 and 40 years. The majority of the participants (66%) thought that legal investigations without a forensic autopsy are not enough to determine the cause of death. Twenty-one percent were not comfortable, for religious reasons, with the performance of an autopsy and 72% thought that an autopsy should be done only after the consent was attained from the deceased’s relatives. Understanding the worries of people toward this procedure highlights the importance of awareness programmes with the goal of correcting misconceptions and relieving worries. Awareness campaigns through media could be a good source of relaying correct information regarding this topic.