July 2026, Volume 4, Issue 7

Author

Angusubalakshmi R and Manjunath

Abstract

Background: Autopsy is an important part of medical education and clinical audit to enhance accuracy of diagnosis and comprehension of disease processes. But, the decreasing rates of autopsy and exposure in students can have an impact on competency. Aim: To evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice of autopsy among students of allied health sciences in a tertiary care teaching institution. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was adopted to study the 200 students of allied health sciences in a tertiary care institution in Puducherry over a period of 6 months. Systematic random sampling was made to select the participants. The questionnaire was pre-tested and administered through Google Forms to gather data, which was analyzed with the help of descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: A total of 200 subjects found that 69.0% of participants were well informed and 62.0% positively oriented toward autopsy but just 36.0% were well exposed. The knowledge and year of study were statistically significantly correlated (p < 0.001). The logistic regression analysis revealed that academic year and previous experience with autopsy were big predictors of proper knowledge. Conclusion: Knowledge and attitude towards autopsy were satisfactory; however, practical exposure was not satisfactory, which underscores the importance of using better experiential learning strategies.