Knowledge, competencies and attitudes regarding external post-mortem physical examination: A survey among German post-graduate trainees in general practice

Figures & data

Table 2. Questionnaire: Knowledge, competencies and attitudes of GP post-graduate trainees on external post-mortem physical examination (n = 128). The n varies due to lack of response.

	Adequate	Half-and-half	Inadequate
(A) Knowledge
How would you estimate your knowledge generally on the topic of external post-mortem examination? (n = 127)	30.7%	54.3%	15.0%
How would you assess your knowledge on the specific procedure of the external post-mortem examination? (n = 128)	33.6%	52.3%	14.1%
	Yes	No
Are you aware that the cause of death statistics in Germany relies on the information in the death certificates? (n = 127)	78.0%	22.0%
(B) Competencies
	Yes	No
Do you always perform the external post-mortem examination on the fully uncovered corpse? (n = 118)	33.1%	66.9%
	Adequate	Half-and-half	Inadequate
How confident are you in the assessment of whether you should call the police or not? (n = 127)	20.5%	55.1%	24.4%
How confident do you feel with the formal criteria required when filling out the death certificate? (n = 127)	32.3%	55.1%	12.6%
How confident do you feel in identifying the identification of certain signs of death? (n = 126)	61.1%	35.7%	3.2%
How confident do you feel in identifying a natural cause of death? (n = 124)	17.7%	74.2%	8.1%
How confident do you feel in identifying an unnatural cause of death? (n = 122)	4.9%	63.9%	31.1%
How confident do you feel in the judgment in situations where medical confidentiality may be broken? (n = 125)	7.2%	31.2%	61.6%
How confident do you feel in determining the cause of death? (n = 124)	3.2%	65.3%	31.5%
How confident do you feel in the documentation of the causal chain of cause of death? (n = 124)	6.5%	61.3%	32.3%
How confident do you feel in determining the time of death? (n = 122)	13.1%	46.7%	40.2%
How confident do you feel when specifying whether an infectious disease (as defined by the Infection Protection Act) is present? (n = 124)	12.1%	49.2%	38.7%
How confident do you feel in dealing with cases of death that have occurred in connection with a medical intervention? (n = 124)	3.2%	48.4%	48.4%
How confident do you feel in dealing with potential conflicts of interest, if you are at the same time the doctor in charge of the family of the deceased? (n = 119)	12.6%	59.7%	27.7%
(C) Attitudes
	Positive	Neutral	Negative
What is your attitude towards the external post-mortem examination? (n = 128)	25.0%	67.2%	7.8%
	Yes	No
To me, the external post-mortem examination means the last service of the physician for the patient (n = 125)	72.0%	28.0%
Do you feel personally uncomfortable with the examination of the corpse? (n = 122)	35.2%	64.8%

Table 1. Sociodemographic data: Description and characteristics of the study population (GP post-graduate trainees).

Characteristics^a	Study population (n = 128)
Age, mean (SD)	33.9 (6.7)
Gender, n (%)
Male	22 (18.0%)
Training year, n (%)
1st	30 (24.2%)
2nd	24 (19.4%)
3rd	18 (14.5%)
4th	26 (21.0%)
5th	26 (21.0%)
Outpatient setting^b, n (%)	67 (54.0%)
Inpatient setting^c, n (%)	57 (46.0%)

^a The n varies due to lack of response.

^b Outpatient setting refers to GP trainees working with ambulatory patients in the community, e.g., in a GP practice.

^c Inpatient setting refers to GP trainees working with patients who have been admitted to the hospital, i.e., within the hospital.