[Deaths at an emergency hospital. Circumstances around the cases as described by physicians and relatives]

Cases of death occurring at University Hospital (Akademiska sjukhuset), Uppsala, during a four-month period were studied by means of interviews (n = 258) with the attending physicians and questionnaires answered by relatives (191) of the deceased. In half the cases death was unexpected and the preceding treatment period short. In most cases the family was present at the time of death, one of several signs that family participation has increased. The question of autopsy was raised in 70 per cent of cases, autopsy being performed in 53 per cent. Great importance was attached to relatives' attitudes toward autopsy, which were negative in only about one case in four. Shortcomings remain in the information provided to families, although there was improvement in this respect as compared with findings in earlier studies.