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Evaluating the Attitude of Nigerian Anatomists Towards Body Donations for Medical Education

Received: 23 September 2019     Accepted: 12 October 2019     Published: 25 November 2019
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Abstract

The use of dissection in anatomy has long been considered a cornerstone in medical education irrespective of nation, racial background or medical school. Anatomy education in Nigeria is faced with the challenge of insufficient supply of cadavers. Body donation could be a possible solution to the inadequate supply of cadavers for medical education in Nigeria. Very little is known about body donation in Nigeria as well as the attitude of Nigerians towards body donation. In this study the attitude of Nigerian anatomists towards body donation was evaluated. Questionnaires were sent to anatomists in three universities in Nigeria covering three geographical zones in Nigeria. A total of fifty-eight (58) responses were obtained. The use of unclaimed bodies (58.6%) and the use of 3D models (46.6%) were the major solutions proposed for cadaver insufficiency. 85.5% of the participants thought that body donation campaigns could increase people’s willingness to donate their body for anatomical study. Only 47% of the participants were willing to campaign for body donation while 53% of the participants were not willing to campaign. Only a few of the participants (25%) were willing to donate their bodies for anatomical study. Their unwillingness was mainly due to religious reasons (26.5%), culture and tradition (12%) and also restrictions from family members (18%). Some even had reasons they would not disclose (28.5%). They could recommend body donation to others but will not recommend it to their relatives.

Published in Biomedical Sciences (Volume 5, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.bs.20190504.16
Page(s) 71-75
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Anatomy, Anatomical Study, Medical Education, Body Donation, Nigerian Anatomists

References
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[2] Azis, M. A., J. C. Mckenzie, J. S. Wilson, R. J. Cowie, S. A. Ayeni and B. K. Dunn, 2002. The human cadaver in the age of biomedical informatics. Anat. Rec., 269 (1): 20-32.
[3] Bolt, S., Venbrux, E., Eisinga, R., Kuks, Veening, J. B. M., Gerrits, P. O. (2010). Motivation for body donation to science: more than altruistic act. Annals of anatomy. 192 (2), 70-74.
[4] Delmas, V. (2001). Donation of bodies to science. Bull academy: Natl med. 185: 849-856. education: knowledge is the ultimate gift of body donors. Singap. Med. J., 48 (3): 186-190.
[5] Ellis, H., 2001. Teaching in the dissecting room. Clin. Anat., 14: 149-151.
[6] Gangata H, Ntaba P, Akol P, Louw G. 2010. The reliance on unclaimed cadavers for anatomical teaching by medical schools in Africa. Anat Sci Educ 3: 172–183.
[7] Jones, D. G., 1997. Reassessing the importance of dissection: A critique and elaboration. Clin. A nat., 10: 123-127.
[8] Lazarus. L. Sookrajh, R. & Satyapal, K. S. (2014). A historical perspective of anatomical pedagogy at university of KwaZulu-Natal: a pilot study. South Africa.
[9] Mandel, S., Gupta, A. & Chatter Jee, M. (2015). Bodies do matter: rethinking anatomical pedagogy, from the scalpel to the mouse: a review in international journal of anatomy and research. Vol3 (4). 1559-67. ISSN2321-4287. DOI: http/dx.dox.org, 10.16965/ijar.
[10] Mwachaka, M. P. & Saidi. H. (2016). Repeated exposure to dissection does not affect student’s attitude towards human body for Anatomy teaching.
[11] Odebode N. 2008. Lagos coroner's law: 12 pathologists contend with 40 corpses daily. 27 August 2008. The Punch Newspaper, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria. URL: http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200808271443928 [accessed 22 july 2019].
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[13] Osuagwu, F. C, Imosemi, I. O & Oladejo, O. W. (2004) Sources of cadaver use for dissection at the Ibadan medical school, Nigeria- analysis of a 3-year data. African journal of biomedical research. Vol 7; 93-95. ISSN 1119-5096. Ibadan biomedical communication group.
[14] Izunya AM, Oaikhena GA, Nwaopara AO. 2010. Attitudes to cadaver dissection in a Nigerian medical school. Asian J Med Sci 2: 89–94.
[15] Rajkumari, A. B. and Y. I. Singh, (2007). Body donation and its relevance in anatomy learning - A review. J. Anat. Soc. India, 56 (1): 1-6.
[16] Riederer B. M. (2016), Body donations today and tomorrow: What is the best practice and why? Clin. Anat., 29: 11-18. Doi: 10.1002/ca.22641
[17] Rizzolo. L. J. (2002). Human dissection: an approach to interweaving the traditional and humanistic goals of medical education; anatomy record 269: 242-248.
[18] Roach, M. (2004). stiff: the curious lives of human cadavers.
[19] Rokade SA, Bahetee BH (2013). Body donation, A review. Medical journal of western India. 41 (1): 36-40
[20] Savulescu, J. (2003). Death, us and other bodies: personal reflections. Journal of medical ethics, 29 (3), 127-130.
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  • APA Style

    Ogan Christopher Akanaku, Odey Paul Anyiom, Ikpa James Onah, Asomugha Precious Remigius. (2019). Evaluating the Attitude of Nigerian Anatomists Towards Body Donations for Medical Education. Biomedical Sciences, 5(4), 71-75. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bs.20190504.16

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    ACS Style

    Ogan Christopher Akanaku; Odey Paul Anyiom; Ikpa James Onah; Asomugha Precious Remigius. Evaluating the Attitude of Nigerian Anatomists Towards Body Donations for Medical Education. Biomed. Sci. 2019, 5(4), 71-75. doi: 10.11648/j.bs.20190504.16

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    AMA Style

    Ogan Christopher Akanaku, Odey Paul Anyiom, Ikpa James Onah, Asomugha Precious Remigius. Evaluating the Attitude of Nigerian Anatomists Towards Body Donations for Medical Education. Biomed Sci. 2019;5(4):71-75. doi: 10.11648/j.bs.20190504.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.bs.20190504.16,
      author = {Ogan Christopher Akanaku and Odey Paul Anyiom and Ikpa James Onah and Asomugha Precious Remigius},
      title = {Evaluating the Attitude of Nigerian Anatomists Towards Body Donations for Medical Education},
      journal = {Biomedical Sciences},
      volume = {5},
      number = {4},
      pages = {71-75},
      doi = {10.11648/j.bs.20190504.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bs.20190504.16},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.bs.20190504.16},
      abstract = {The use of dissection in anatomy has long been considered a cornerstone in medical education irrespective of nation, racial background or medical school. Anatomy education in Nigeria is faced with the challenge of insufficient supply of cadavers. Body donation could be a possible solution to the inadequate supply of cadavers for medical education in Nigeria. Very little is known about body donation in Nigeria as well as the attitude of Nigerians towards body donation. In this study the attitude of Nigerian anatomists towards body donation was evaluated. Questionnaires were sent to anatomists in three universities in Nigeria covering three geographical zones in Nigeria. A total of fifty-eight (58) responses were obtained. The use of unclaimed bodies (58.6%) and the use of 3D models (46.6%) were the major solutions proposed for cadaver insufficiency. 85.5% of the participants thought that body donation campaigns could increase people’s willingness to donate their body for anatomical study. Only 47% of the participants were willing to campaign for body donation while 53% of the participants were not willing to campaign. Only a few of the participants (25%) were willing to donate their bodies for anatomical study. Their unwillingness was mainly due to religious reasons (26.5%), culture and tradition (12%) and also restrictions from family members (18%). Some even had reasons they would not disclose (28.5%). They could recommend body donation to others but will not recommend it to their relatives.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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    AB  - The use of dissection in anatomy has long been considered a cornerstone in medical education irrespective of nation, racial background or medical school. Anatomy education in Nigeria is faced with the challenge of insufficient supply of cadavers. Body donation could be a possible solution to the inadequate supply of cadavers for medical education in Nigeria. Very little is known about body donation in Nigeria as well as the attitude of Nigerians towards body donation. In this study the attitude of Nigerian anatomists towards body donation was evaluated. Questionnaires were sent to anatomists in three universities in Nigeria covering three geographical zones in Nigeria. A total of fifty-eight (58) responses were obtained. The use of unclaimed bodies (58.6%) and the use of 3D models (46.6%) were the major solutions proposed for cadaver insufficiency. 85.5% of the participants thought that body donation campaigns could increase people’s willingness to donate their body for anatomical study. Only 47% of the participants were willing to campaign for body donation while 53% of the participants were not willing to campaign. Only a few of the participants (25%) were willing to donate their bodies for anatomical study. Their unwillingness was mainly due to religious reasons (26.5%), culture and tradition (12%) and also restrictions from family members (18%). Some even had reasons they would not disclose (28.5%). They could recommend body donation to others but will not recommend it to their relatives.
    VL  - 5
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Author Information
  • Department of Human Anatomy, Cross River University of Technology (Crutech), Okuku-campus, Nigeria

  • Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria

  • Department of Human Anatomy, Cross River University of Technology (Crutech), Okuku-campus, Nigeria

  • Department of Human Anatomy, Cross River University of Technology (Crutech), Okuku-campus, Nigeria

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