Abstract:
An inquest is the procedure for investigating sudden
deaths in Sri Lanka, a fact-finding exercise rather than a
fault-finding inquiry. Giving the correct Cause of Death
(COD) is essential from both legal and statistical points
of view. Doctors have an important role in both inquest
and COD. This study aims to assess the knowledge of
inquest and COD among doctors of various hierarchy
levels at the teaching hospital, Jaffna.
A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted
through systematic random sampling. The questionnaire
was distributed and collected in small groups at
convenient times with adequate instructions.
The total number of participants was 137, among which
44 were consultants, 45 were medical officers, and
48 were intern house officers. Sixty-two subjects had
experience more than ten years. Considering the inquest,
37%(N=50) had good, and 61%(N=83) had average
knowledge regarding the procedure, 43%(N=58)
had good, and 54%(N=73) had average knowledge
regarding indications; More than half of the doctors
(52%, N=71)) had good, and 29%(N=39) had average
knowledge about the doctor’s role in inquest procedure.
Regarding COD, 47%(N=64) had good knowledge,
while 37%(N=50) had average knowledge. Designation
and experience showed a significant association
(p-value<0.05) with the overall understanding of
inquest, where consultants had good scores. Gender did
not significantly correlate with the overall knowledge
of inquest and COD.
Since a considerable proportion of doctors have average
knowledge or below regarding inquest and COD, this
is high time to make feasible interventions to upgrade
the knowledge among doctors.
