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[Recent data for frequency of autopsy in Germany].
B Brinkmann1, A Du Chesne, B Vennemann
1Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Münster, Germany. brinkma@uni-muenster.de
Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift (1946)
|April 16, 2002
Summary
Autopsy rates in Germany are alarmingly low, with clinico-pathological autopsies declining and medicolegal autopsies remaining low. This impacts quality assurance and detection of violent deaths.
Area of Science:
- Forensic Pathology
- Medical Quality Assurance
Context:
- Autopsies are crucial for quality control in clinical medicine and understanding mortality statistics.
- Medicolegal autopsies are vital for identifying non-natural or violent deaths.
Purpose:
- To analyze trends in clinico-pathological and medicolegal autopsy rates in Germany between 1994 and 1999.
- To compare autopsy rates across different German states.
Summary:
- Clinico-pathological autopsy rates decreased from approximately 4% to 3% between 1994 and 1999.
- Medicolegal autopsy rates remained stable but low at around 2%.
- Significant regional variations in autopsy rates were observed, with up to 4-fold differences for clinico-pathological and 5-fold for medicolegal autopsies.
Impact:
- The declining autopsy rates hinder the role of post-mortem examinations in quality control and accurate death statistics.
- Low medicolegal autopsy rates likely lead to an underestimation of non-natural or violent deaths.
- Germany's autopsy rates are notably lower than in other European countries.