Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Anat Sci Educ. 2012 Jul-Aug;5(4):208-16. doi: 10.1002/ase.1278. Epub 2012 Apr 16.
The altruistic act of body donation provides a precious resource for both teaching and researching human anatomy. However, relatively little is known about individuals who donate their bodies to science (donors), and in particular whether donors in different geographical locations share similar characteristics. A multicenter prospective survey of donors registering during 2010 in three different geographical locations, New Zealand, Ireland, and the Republic of South Africa, was conducted to identify donor characteristics. The 28-question survey included sections on body donation program awareness, reasons for donating, giving tendency, education, ethnicity, relationship status, occupation, religion, and political preference. Two hundred surveys (81%) were returned [New Zealand 123 (85% response rate), Republic of South Africa 41 (67%), and Ireland 36 (92%)]. Results indicate that donors share certain characteristics including reason for donating (80% cited a desire to aid medical science as the main reason for wishing to donate their body); family structure (most donors are or have been in long-term partnerships and ≥ 85% have siblings); and a higher proportion with no religious affiliation compared to their reference population. Some variations between locations were noted including donor age, the mode of program awareness, occupation, relationship status, political preference, organ donor status and with whom donors had discussed their decision to donate. This information could be important for assisting the identification of potential body donors in new and established bequest programs.
遗体捐献是一种利他行为，为人体解剖学的教学和研究提供了宝贵的资源。然而，人们对捐献遗体的人（捐献者）知之甚少，特别是不同地理位置的捐献者是否具有相似的特征。本研究采用多中心前瞻性调查方法，对 2010 年在新西兰、爱尔兰和南非共和国三个不同地理位置登记的捐献者进行了调查，以确定捐献者的特征。该 28 个问题的调查问卷包括对遗体捐献计划的认识、捐献原因、捐献倾向、教育程度、种族、婚姻状况、职业、宗教信仰和政治倾向等部分。共回收了 200 份调查问卷（新西兰 123 份，回收率 85%；南非共和国 41 份，回收率 67%；爱尔兰 36 份，回收率 92%）。结果表明，捐献者具有某些共同特征，包括捐献原因（80%的人表示希望帮助医学科学是他们希望捐献遗体的主要原因）、家庭结构（大多数捐献者或曾经处于长期伴侣关系中，且≥85%的人有兄弟姐妹），以及与他们的参考人群相比，无宗教信仰的比例更高。在不同地点之间也注意到了一些差异，包括捐献者年龄、对项目的认知模式、职业、婚姻状况、政治倾向、器官捐献者身份以及与谁讨论过捐献遗体的决定。这些信息对于协助在新的和已建立的遗产计划中确定潜在的遗体捐献者可能很重要。
