Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22708659›Full record

ArticleHealth expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy2014

Decision influences and aftermath: parents, stillbirth and autopsy.

Dell Horey, Vicki Flenady, Liz Conway, Emma McLeod, Teck Yee Khong

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 24% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Factors affecting uptake of postmortem examination in the prenatal, perinatal and paediatric setting.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2018
    Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Factors Contributing to Uptake of Stillbirth Evaluations: A Qualitative Analysis.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2025
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Findings in Stillbirths Associated with Placental Disease.American journal of perinatology · 2020
    Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Parental decision making around perinatal autopsy: a qualitative investigation.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2015
    Article
  19. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Dell HoreyResearch Fellow, Research Education and Development Unit, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Vic.Associate Professor, Mater Medical Research Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QldState Coordinator, SANDS Queensland, Brisbane, QldFounder and Director, Stillbirth Foundation Australia, Sydney, NSWConsultant, SA Pathology at Women's and Children's Hospital, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SAMember, Australian and New Zealand Stillbirth Alliance (ANZSA), Woolloongabba, Qld, Australia.
Vicki Flenady
Liz Conway
Emma McLeod
Teck Yee Khong
La Trobe University · AUSands · GBSouth Australia Pathology · AUStillbirth Foundation · AUThe University of Queensland · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundStillbirth, among the most distressing experiences an adult may face, is also a time when parents must decide whether an autopsy or other post-mortem examinations will be performed on their infant. Autopsies can reveal information that might help explain stillbirth, yet little is known about how people make this difficult decision.

objectivesThis study examines the influences on decisions about autopsy after stillbirth among Australian parents.

designThe study involved secondary analysis of transcripts of three focus groups using qualitative content analysis. PARTICIPANTS AND

settingSeventeen parents of 14 stillborn babies participated in consultations around the revision of a perinatal mortality audit guideline.

resultsParents shared the decision making. Four decision drivers were identified: parents' preparedness or readiness to make decisions; parental responsibility; concern for possible consequences of an autopsy and the role of health professionals. Each decision driver involved reasons both for and against autopsy. Two decision aftermath were also present: some parents who agreed to an autopsy were dissatisfied with the way the autopsy results were given to them and some parents who did not have an autopsy for their infant expressed some form of regret or uncertainty about the choice they made.

conclusionsTo make decisions about autopsy after stillbirth, parents need factual information about autopsy procedures, recognition that there might be fear of blame, an environment of trust, and health services and professionals prepared and skilled for difficult conversations.

Indexed as

AutopsyDecision MakingAustraliaFemaleFocus GroupsGestational AgeHumansMaleParentsProfessional RoleStillbirthautopsyfetal deathhealth decisionstillbirth

Identifiers

PMID22708659
PMCPMC5060741
OpenAlexW1484174831

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.