Body habitus considerations in US anatomical body donation programs-Perspectives and practices from program...

Area of Science:

• Anatomy
• Medical Education
• Sociology

Background:

• United States body donation programs (USBDP) often have body size restrictions.
• Publicly available information on these criteria is limited.
• Understanding these restrictions is crucial for equitable access to donation programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine body habitus criteria, including weight, height, and proportion, used by USBDP.
• To analyze the nature of these restrictions (numeric vs. descriptive).
• To assess the potential impact on donor pool representativeness.

Main Methods:

• Review of 127 publicly available USBDP websites.
• Analysis of stated body habitus criteria, focusing on weight and body mass index (BMI).
• Categorization of restrictions into numeric, descriptive, or combined formats.

Main Results:

• 90.6% of programs had weight-related restrictions.
• 55.1% used descriptive terms, and 11% used only numeric terms for restrictions.
• A common BMI cutoff of 30 kg/m² could disqualify many U.S. adults.

Conclusions:

• Body size restrictions in USBDP may limit the diversity of donated bodies for anatomical research and education.
• Descriptive and numeric criteria, particularly weight/BMI cutoffs, can disproportionately affect certain populations.
• Further research is needed on the implications for anatomical education and potential weight bias.