This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (17)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Results of a National Survey

Glen E. Rosenbaum, MD; Jeffrey Burns, MD; Judy Johnson, JD; Christine Mitchell, RN; Mary Robinson, MDiv, MA; Robert D. Truog, MD

Arch Intern Med. 2000;160:374-380.

Background  Autopsy rates continue to fall despite the enduring benefit of the procedure to families and medical science, yet there are few data about the consent process itself.

Objective  To evaluate the current practice of obtaining autopsy consent, by assessing the consent forms currently in use, the knowledge and attitudes of chief residents on the procedure, and the expert opinion of pathologists in those institutions.

Design  Cross-sectional survey.

Settings and Participants  One hundred twenty-seven US teaching hospitals.

Results  Of all autopsy consent forms we surveyed, 84.7% contained 7 of 10 elements recommended by the College of American Pathologists. Only 7.1% of institutions supplied educational materials for the physician, as recommended by the College of American Pathologists. Overall, 50.1% of chief residents reported deficiencies in their knowledge of the autopsy procedure. Correspondingly, greater than 74.5% felt that educational materials would be beneficial for physicians and the family. Finally, 93.3% of chief residents believed that a limited autopsy should be offered to families, while 68 (90%) of 76 pathologists at these institutions believed that limited autopsies are an unsatisfactory alternative to the complete procedure.

Conclusions  Chief residents at US teaching hospitals reported substantial deficiencies in their knowledge about autopsy and desire more training on the consent process. Autopsy consent forms are often lacking information that might help physicians and families in making an educated choice about autopsy. Teaching institutions need to reevaluate the training for the autopsy consent practice.

From the Departments of Medicine (Dr Rosenbaum), Anesthesia (Drs Burns and Truog), and Pastoral Care (Rev Robinson) and Office of Ethics (Mss Johnson and Mitchell), Children's Hospital, and Department of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School (Drs Burns and Truog), Boston, Mass.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLE

Archives of Internal Medicine Reader's Choice: Continuing Medical Education
Arch Intern Med. 2000;160(3):397-398.
FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

What New Information Pediatric Autopsies Can Provide: A Retrospective Evaluation of 100 Consecutive Autopsies Using Family-Centered Criteria
Feinstein et al.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2007;161:1190-1196.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Clinical and Autopsy Diagnoses in the Intensive Care Unit: A Prospective Study
Combes et al.
Arch Intern Med 2004;164:389-392.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Changes in Rates of Autopsy-Detected Diagnostic Errors Over Time: A Systematic Review
Shojania et al.
JAMA 2003;289:2849-2856.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Brain Donation in Normal Aging: Procedures, Motivations, and Donor Characteristics From the Biologically Resilient Adults in Neurological Studies (BRAiNS) Project
Schmitt et al.
Gerontologist 2001;41:716-722.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Convenience Survey Regarding Autopsy/Organ Donation Education at the 1999 American Medical Association Annual Meeting
Short et al.
Arch Intern Med 2000;160:3167-3167.
FULL TEXT