ArticlePloS one2017
Autopsy rates in the Netherlands: 35 years of decline.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 69 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prospective postmortem evaluation of 735 consecutive SARS-CoV-2-associated death cases.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Forensic insights into mortality and challenges in post-mortem investigations of homeless individuals: a 10-year study (2014-2024) in Milan, Italy.International journal of legal medicine · 2026Article
- Trends in sudden death-attributed mortality across Europe, 2010-2020: a retrospective population-based analysis.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2026Article
- Increased incidence, survival, and registration quality of primary hepato-pancreato-biliary cancers in the Netherlands Cancer Registry.International journal of cancer · 2026Article
- Accelerating Proficiency in Minimally Invasive Autopsy for Infectious Disease Diagnosis and Research: A Strategic Framework.Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical · 2026Observational
- Major discrepancy between clinical and autopsy diagnosis: a descriptive single-center analysis and its implications for the South African public health system.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Diagnostic performance of minimally invasive autopsy in a respiratory ICU: A retrospective analysis.Lung India : official organ of Indian Chest Society · 2026Article
- The acceptability of minimally invasive tissue sampling for cause of death determination in rural South Africa: A qualitative analysis.PloS one · 2026Article
- Trends in Pathological Autopsy in Japan From 1958 to 2023.Pathology international · 2025Article
- Trends and differences in the rates of autopsy in the United States, 2003 to 2020: A nationwide analysis.Heart rhythm O2 · 2025Article
- Autopsy rates and diagnostic errors in a Swiss community hospital: a ten-year retrospective analysis.Virchows Archiv : an international journal of pathology · 2025Article
- Inpatient autopsy rate and associated factors in a Chinese megacity: a population-based retrospective cohort study.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Morbidity and Mortality Conferences in Internal Medicine Specialty Training in Japan: A Nationwide Cross-sectional Study.Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) · 2024Article
- Concordance between MITS and conventional autopsies for pathological and virological diagnoses.International journal of legal medicine · 2024Article
- Minimally invasive autopsy - endoscopic approach to post-mortem diagnostics.Wideochirurgia i inne techniki maloinwazyjne = Videosurgery and other miniinvasive techniques · 2024Review
- Are autopsies on minors a taboo?: The experience of Milan in a 19-year retrospective study.International journal of legal medicine · 2024Article
- A mini review of leveraging biobanking in the identification of novel biomarkers in neurological disorders: insights from a rapid single-cell sequencing pipeline.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Review
- Cause of death and the autopsy rate in an elderly population.Virchows Archiv : an international journal of pathology · 2023Article
- Trends in mortality from non-natural causes in children and adolescents (0-19 years) in Europe from 2000 to 2018.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Inter-center variation in autopsy practices among regional neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveAlthough the autopsy still is a valuable tool in health statistics, health care quality control, medical education, and biomedical research, autopsy rates have been declining worldwide. The aim of this study was to examine trends of overall, clinical and forensic autopsy rates among adults in the Netherlands over the last four decades, and trends per sex, age (groups), and hospital type.
methodsWe performed a retrospective study covering 35 years of Dutch national death counts (1977-2011), the number of in-hospital deceased patients, the number of deaths due to external causes, and the proportion of autopsies performed in these populations. The effects of sex, age and hospital category were analysed by linear and logistic regression and differences were evaluated by chi-square tests.
resultsOverall autopsy rates declined by 0.3% per calendar year, clinical autopsy rates by 0.7% per calendar year (from 31.4% to 7.7%), and forensic autopsy rates did not decline. Per calendar year the fraction of in-hospital deceased patients decreased by 0.2%. Autopsy rates were highest among men and younger patients; clinical autopsy rates were highest for patients dying in academic hospitals.
conclusionsIn the Netherlands clinical autopsy rates have rapidly declined while at the same time the fraction of in-hospital deaths decreased, both contributing to the overall reduced absolute number of autopsies performed. It is important to improve awareness among both clinicians and general practitioners of the significance of the clinical autopsy.
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