| Abstract [eng] |
Learning human Anatomy not only from textbooks and images but also through practical experience with real human bodies, is an essential part of every medical student's education. To do this, altruistic people choose during their lifetime to donate their bodies for educational purposes. Following this decision and signing an informed consent form, they get registered in the “Vilnius University Body Donors Database” . The database was established with the first registered donor in 1999 and has continued to grow ever since. As of the most recent update on December 31th 2024, the database included 459 registered donors, with the majority (62%) being female.Typically, individuals decide to donate at an average age of 65, with men making this decision at an average age of 63 and women slightly later at 66. The average age at death is 73 for male donors and 77 for female donors. Currently, the database lists 70 donors who are already diseased, most of whom have been cremated and buried. At the time of the data analysis, 21 bodies were in use at Vilnius University. Notably, 60,2% of all donors opted to donate their bodies for an unlimited period of time. The number of newly registered donors peaked in 2019, followed by a decline until 2021. Since then, registration numbers have steadily increased,reaching a record high of 71 new registrations in 2024. The region with the highest body donors in terms of total numbers is the municipality of Vilnius city, with 214 donors in total, representing 47,7% of all registered donors of Vilnius University. However, when considering the number of donors per 100.000 inhabitants, the municipality of Anykščiai has the highest rate, with 51,3 donors. To get a better overview over these donors, this study's aims to analyze the database and extract information that could be utilized by Vilnius University in the future. |
