Anat Biol Anthropol.  2023 Jun;36(2):59-66. 10.11637/aba.2023.36.2.59.

Characteristics of Cadavor Donors Donated to Medical School of Chungbuk National University: A 14-Year Demographic Analysis

• Kwon CY
• Sohn HJ
• Gil YC

• KMID: 2549040
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.11637/aba.2023.36.2.59

Abstract

Despite the significant importance of anatomy education facilitated by anatomical gifts, there remains a death of data concerning the demographic characteristics of domestic body donors in Korea. This study aims to compare the demographic features, including death count, age, gender, causes of death, and location, by analyzing a database comprising 149,487 deceased individuals from Chungcheongbuk-do and 151 anatomical gift donors from Chungbuk National University Medical School spanning the years 2008 to 2021. Notably, the number of donated cadavers has seen a 1.7% increase, rising from 13 in 2008 to 22 in 2021. Among the donors, males accounted for 63.6%, while females constituted 36.4%. In terms of age distribution, the 70s represented 30.5%, followed by the 80s at 29.8%, and the 60s at 18.5%. Notably, the region with the highest proportion of donors was Chungju city among the six analyzed regions. Leading causes of death among donors included neoplasms (23.2%), unspecified clinical and laboratory findings (21.2%), and respiratory system diseases (19.2%). Hospitals were the predominant location of death for donors, accounting for 70.2%. These results are expected to serve as essential foundational data for education and research endeavors pertaining to anatomical gifts in Korea. Moreover, it is our hope that a comprehensive management system will be established to further foster anatomical gift donation in the country.

Keyword

Cadaver; Donor; Anatomical gift; Cause of death; Demographic characteristic