Elsevier

The Lancet

Volume 346, Issue 8970, 29 July 1995, Pages 277-279
The Lancet

Donors' attitudes towards body donation for dissection

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(95)92166-4Get rights and content

Abstract

Summary

We report a survey in the UK of potential whole-body donors for dissection. 218 people (age range 19-97 years) answered a postal questionnaire, giving information about themselves, their reasons for donation, attitudes towards the dead body, funeral preferences and medical giving and receiving. In addition to altruism, motives included the wish to avoid funeral ceremonies, to avoid waste, and in a few cases, to evade the expense of a funeral. 44% understood that their bodies would be used as teaching material, 42% for experiments. Whilst 69% believed in one or more supernatural phenomena, only 39% said they were religious. 69% requested cremation after dissection; 2% wanted to be buried. The notion of money incentives to promote donation was overwhelmingly rejected.

References (9)

  • DJdeL Horne et al.

    Reactions of first-year medical students to their initial encounter with a cadaver in the dissecting room

    Academ Med

    (1990)
  • M. Druce et al.

    Human dissection and attitudes of pre-clinical students to death and bereavement

    Clin Anat

    (1994)
  • DC. Humphrey

    Dissection and discrimination, the social origins of cadavers in America 1760-1915

    Bull NY Acad Med

    (1973)
  • R. Richardson

    Death, dissection and the destitute

    (1989)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (0)

View full text
Copyright © 1995 Published by Elsevier Ltd.