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Would you donate your body? Attitudes of students of nursing and physiotherapy towards body donation for educational and scientific purposes
, 2
Affiliations- Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Health Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
- Department of Reproductive Health and Sexology, Department of Women’s Health, Faculty of Health Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
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Abstract
Background: Human body is the most perfect atlas of human anatomy. Body donation
after death is, next to donation of organs for the purpose of transplantation, another
most altruistic act, which significantly influences the future of medicine, as regards
teaching of anatomy and clinical disciplines. Because students are mainly the beneficiaries
of corpse donations, it appears important to learn about their attitudes to this altruistic
act. The purpose was to assess the awareness and attitudes of students of nursing and
physiotherapy towards body donation for educational and scientific purposes.
Materials and methods: A total of 128 Polish students (110 women and 18 men)
from the faculties of nursing and physiotherapy of the Medical University of Silesia in
Katowice, Poland took part in the questionnaire study. The average age in respective
groups was 19.94 ± 0.34 years of age in case of nursing and 19.93 ± 0.25 years of
age in case of physiotherapy. The first part of the proprietary questionnaire concerned
classes in body dissection conducted in prosectorium and their significance for teaching
anatomy. The second part applied to the programme of Conscious Body Donation,
attitudes towards the body in prosectorium and the approach to body donation for
educational and scientific purposes.
Results: The results of the study indicate that students from both faculties are in favour
of body donation after death for educational and scientific purposes. Unfortunately,
only a small percentage of them expressed the willingness to become body donators.
The main reasons for the reluctance to do so included psychological barrier and concern
for the family.
Conclusions: Most of students who responded to the questionnaire support the idea of
body donation for educational and scientific purposes after death, yet they appear to be
more willing to donate their organs for transplantation than their bodies for educational
or scientific purposes after death. There are numerous factors which influence students’
attitude to body donation. More emphasis should be put on educating students, which
could contribute to changing their attitude toward that altruistic act, and in consequence
may increase the number of donors in the future.
Abstract
Background: Human body is the most perfect atlas of human anatomy. Body donation
after death is, next to donation of organs for the purpose of transplantation, another
most altruistic act, which significantly influences the future of medicine, as regards
teaching of anatomy and clinical disciplines. Because students are mainly the beneficiaries
of corpse donations, it appears important to learn about their attitudes to this altruistic
act. The purpose was to assess the awareness and attitudes of students of nursing and
physiotherapy towards body donation for educational and scientific purposes.
Materials and methods: A total of 128 Polish students (110 women and 18 men)
from the faculties of nursing and physiotherapy of the Medical University of Silesia in
Katowice, Poland took part in the questionnaire study. The average age in respective
groups was 19.94 ± 0.34 years of age in case of nursing and 19.93 ± 0.25 years of
age in case of physiotherapy. The first part of the proprietary questionnaire concerned
classes in body dissection conducted in prosectorium and their significance for teaching
anatomy. The second part applied to the programme of Conscious Body Donation,
attitudes towards the body in prosectorium and the approach to body donation for
educational and scientific purposes.
Results: The results of the study indicate that students from both faculties are in favour
of body donation after death for educational and scientific purposes. Unfortunately,
only a small percentage of them expressed the willingness to become body donators.
The main reasons for the reluctance to do so included psychological barrier and concern
for the family.
Conclusions: Most of students who responded to the questionnaire support the idea of
body donation for educational and scientific purposes after death, yet they appear to be
more willing to donate their organs for transplantation than their bodies for educational
or scientific purposes after death. There are numerous factors which influence students’
attitude to body donation. More emphasis should be put on educating students, which
could contribute to changing their attitude toward that altruistic act, and in consequence
may increase the number of donors in the future.
Keywords
whole body donation, students, physiotherapy, nursing, cadaver, anatomy
About this articleTitle
Would you donate your body? Attitudes of students of nursing and physiotherapy towards body donation for educational and scientific purposes
Journal
Issue
Article type
Original article
Pages
921-931
Published online
2023-04-03
Page views
894
Article views/downloads
729
DOI
Pubmed
Bibliographic record
Folia Morphol 2023;82(4):921-931.
Keywords
whole body donation
students
physiotherapy
nursing
cadaver
anatomy
Authors
W. Likus
P. Janiszewska
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