Necropsy request behaivour of clinicians:
A study from a university teaching hospital in Nigeria

Agboola AOJ¹, Izegbu MC², Oyebadejo TY³

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To investigate necropsy request practices at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu and to determine the extent to which these might influence the declining necropsy rates.

Methodology: The necropsy service was audited retrospectively over a fifteen-month period and data relating to non-coroner’s (hospital) necropsy requests, including the clinical service were extracted from the death register of the department of Morbid Anatomy and Histopathology, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital and documented. The reasons for non-request were recorded for deaths in which a necropsy was not requested. A cross-sectional study of clinicians was conducted at an Academic Staff Assembly of Obafemi Awolowo College of Health Sciences, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Sagamu, held in August 2007, using a standardized randomly self-administed questionnaire

Results: There were 1053 deaths comprising 684 non-coroner’s and 369 coroner’s cases. The overall, non-coroner’s, and coroner’s necropsy rates were 35.3%, 3.3%, and 99.2% respectively. The non-coroner’s necropsy request rate was 33.3% with success rate of 100%. Residents doctor made all the requests and the internal medicine service, which accounted for most of the non-coroner’s death; the necropsy requests rate of 33.3% was the same for Surgery and Accident and Emergency units. Lack of manpower, diagnosis was the main reason for not requesting a necropsy.

Conclusions: These findings show a relatively high necropsy success rate in the face of abysmally low necropsy request rate, and indicate that necropsy rates can be increased if clinicians make more necropsy requests in a timely manner in all patients.

KEY WORDS: Necropsy request, Clinicians Behaivour.

Pak J Med Sci    July - September 2009    Vol. 25 No. 4    650-655

How to cite this article:

Agboola AOJ, Izegbu MC, Oyebadejo TY. Necropsy request behaivour of clinicians: A study from a university teaching hospital in Nigeria. Pak J Med Sci 2009;25(4):650-655.

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1. AOJ Agboola ,
2. MC Izegbu,
Departments of Morbid Anatomy,
3. TY Oyebadejo,
Department of Histopathology,
1-3: Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital,
PMB 2022, Sagamu, Nigeria.

Correspondence

Dr. Agboola AOJ,
E-mail: johndeji2001@yahoo.co.uk 

* Received for Publication: May 23, 2008
* Accepted: June 25, 2009

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