The association between taking a death certificate course and practical knowledge about death certificate among Saudi medical students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/QS.2022.08.02.008Keywords
Death Certificates, Medical Students, Saudi ArabiaAbstract
In Saudi Arabia, family members, general practitioners, morticians, or police officer, who are eligible to request autopsies, refrain from doing so to expedite the burial of the deceased. Inaccurate entries into the medical death certificate facilitate so. The reason for ignoring the completion of death certificates is not fully explored. Yet, incompetence or avoiding medicolegal allegations seem to be causative factors. In this study, we conducted a cross-sectional study on 335 medical students from all years of medical school to determine the association between taking the death certificate course and the level of knowledge about death certificates among medical students. The results showed an increase in the level of knowledge of students who took the course compared to the students who did not. Among the students who have seen death certificates, the majority have not seen enough number of death certificates. Cultural mores of the medical students are expected to govern their carefulness in filling out the death certificates.
References
M.B. Nashelsky, C.H. Lawrence, Accuracy of Cause of Death Determination Without Forensic Autopsy Examination, Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol. 24 (2003) 313–319. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.paf.0000097857.50734.c3.
J. Goodin, R. Hanzlick, Mind your manners Part II: General results from the national association of medical examiners manner of death questionnaire, 1995, Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol. 18 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1097/00000433-199709000-00002.
G.P. Nielsen, J. Björnsson, J.G. Jonasson, The accuracy of death certificates - Implications for health statistics, Virchows Arch. A Pathol. Anat. Histopathol. 419 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01600228.
A.T. Degani, R.M. Patel, B.E. Smith, E. Grimsley, The effect of student training on accuracy of completion of death certificates., Med. Educ. Online. 14 (2009) 17. https://doi.org/10.3402/meo.v14i.4510.
M. Ben Khelil, M. Kamel, S. Lahmar, A. Mrabet, N.B. Falfoul, M. Hamdoun, Death certificate accuracy in a Tunisian emergency department, Tunisie Medicale. 95 (2017) 422–428.
S. Walker, R. Rampatige, I. Wainiqolo, A. Aumua, An accessible method for teaching doctors about death certification, Heal. Inf. Manag. J. 41 (2012) 4–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/183335831204100101.
S. Anders, D. Fischer-Bruegge, M. Fabian, T. Raupach, C. Petersen-Ewert, S. Harendza, Teaching post-mortem external examination in undergraduate medical education-The formal and the informal curriculum, Forensic Sci. Int. 210 (2011) 87–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2011.02.008.
K. Aljerian, SIDS in Saudi Arabia: Reality or Myth?, Fetal Pediatr. Pathol. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1080/15513815.2022.2053917.
A.A. BinSaeed, M.M. Al-Saadi, K.A. AlJerian, S.A. Al-Saleh, M.A. Al-Hussein, K.S. Al-Majid, Z.S. Al-Sani, K.A. Al-Rabeeah, K.A. Arab, K.A. Al-Sheikh, S.S. Ahamed, Assessment of the accuracy of death certification at two referral hospitals, J. Fam. Community Med. 15 (2008).
A.E. Donaldson, G.Y. Larsen, L. Fullerton-Gleason, L.M. Olson, Classifying undetermined poisoning deaths, Inj. Prev. 12 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1136/ip.2005.011171.
K. Aljerian, Death certificate errors in one Saudi Arabian hospital, Death Stud. 43 (2019) 311–315. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2018.1461712.
I. Dror, J. Melinek, J.L. Arden, J. Kukucka, S. Hawkins, J. Carter, D.S. Atherton, Cognitive bias in forensic pathology decisions, J. Forensic Sci. 66 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.14697.
E. Richaud-Eyraud, V. Gigonzac, C. Rondet, I. Khireddine-Medouni, C. Chan-Chee, L. Chérié-Challine, B. Ludes, G. Rey, Overview on forensic institutes’ practices and drafting of death certificates, in France, in 2016, with the aim to implement a supplementary form to the death certificate, Rev. Med. Leg. 9 (2018) 1–9. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85037980934&doi=10.1016%2Fj.medleg.2017.11.001&partnerID=40&md5=eef6025a91a9d0a9f5c76c3b0ea43055.
M. Alonso-Sardón, H. Iglesias-de-Sena, M. Sáez-Lorenzo, A.J.C. Fernández, J. Salvat-Puig, J.A. Mirón-Canelo, B-learning training in the certification of causes of death, J. Forensic Leg. Med. 29 (2015) 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2014.10.003.
B. Karger, G.L. De La Grandmaison, T. Bajanowski, B. Brinkmann, Analysis of 155 consecutive forensic exhumations with emphasis on undetected homicides, Int. J. Legal Med. 118 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-003-0426-z.
K. Aljerian, R.A. Almohammed, T.M. Alghaith, Q. Al-Saffer, N.M. Alazmi, A.S. BaHammam, Unifying the death notification form: Recommendations by the Saudi Health Council task force, J. Taibah Univ. Med. Sci. 16 (2021) 672–682. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtumed.2021.06.001.
K. Aljerian, Saudi physicians’ perceptions of the validity of autopsy and its implications - Structural equation modeling, J. Forensic Leg. Med. 86 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2022.102320.
A.S. Schröder, S. Wilmes, S. Sehner, M. Ehrhardt, H. Kaduszkiewicz, S. Anders, Post-mortem external examination: competence, education and accuracy of general practitioners in a metropolitan area, Int. J. Legal Med. 131 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-017-1559-9.
A.I. Alami, “Illegal” crossing, historical memory and postcolonial agency in Laila Lalami’s Hope and other dangerous pursuits, J. North African Stud. 17 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2011.584472.
L. Lohner, J.P. Sperhake, K. Püschel, A.S. Schröder, Autoerotic Deaths in Hamburg, Germany: Autoerotic accident or death from internal cause in an autoerotic setting? A retrospective study from 2004-2018, Forensic Sci. Int. 313 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110340.
D.W.A. AlRajban, D.K.A. AlJerian, D.Z.Z. AlZaher, D.W.M. AlEithan, D.L.H. AlAmoudi, Assessing Turnover Time, Communication and Report Quality among Histopathologists and Their Clients., J. Curr. Med. Res. Opin. 4 (2021). https://doi.org/10.15520/jcmro.v4i02.393.
K. Aljerian, A.S. BaHammam, COVID-19: Lessons in laboratory medicine, pathology, and autopsy, Ann. Thorac. Med. 15 (2020). https://doi.org/10.4103/atm.ATM_173_20.
G. Di Vella, C. Pietro Campobasso, Death Investigation and Certification in Italy, Acad. Forensic Pathol. 5 (2015) 454–461. https://doi.org/10.23907/2015.050.
M. Schön, K. Steinestel, D. Spiegelburg, A. Risch, M. Seidel, L. Schurr, U.K. Fassnacht, N. Golenhofen, T.M. Böckers, A. Böckers, Integration of Scientific Competence into Gross Anatomy Teaching Using Poster Presentations: Feasibility and Perception among Medical Students, Anat. Sci. Educ. 15 (2022) 89–101. https://doi.org/10.1002/ase.2031.
E.W. Matshes, E.O. Lew, Homicide by unspecified means, Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol. 31 (2010) 174–177. https://doi.org/10.1097/PAF.0b013e3181df62da.
K. Aljerian, Factors Influencing Residents’ Specialty Choices and Satisfaction: Impact of Gender, Career Motivation and Life Goals, J. Surg. Educ. 79 (2022) 302–308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2021.09.018.
J.M. Jeffers, S. Bord, J.E. Hooper, C. Fleishman, D. Cayea, B. Garibaldi, End-of-Life Care: A Multimodal and Comprehensive Curriculum for Graduating Medical Students Utilizing Experiential Learning Opportunities, MedEdPORTAL J. Teach. Learn. Resour. 17 (2021) 11149. https://doi.org/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11149.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Khaldoon Aljerian, Norah AlHogail, Saud Alaqeel, Khayyal Alderaan, Abdulla Al-hawamdeh, Hani Alhudhaif
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 412
Number of citations: 0
