The current status of body donation in China and the influences of traditional culture: A systematic review

Abstract China's current body donation landscape remains challenging, with traditional cultural factors such as values and religious beliefs widely regarded as significant influencers. However, the specific cultural factors at play remain unclear. This systematic review aims to comprehensively synthesize the factors within traditional Chinese culture that affect willingness to donate. Following the PRISMA guideline, two researchers systematically searched ten databases based on the predefined search strategy from the establishment to August 2025, including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, Medline, ScienceDirect, China Biology Medicine (CBM/Sinomed), VIP Full‐text Database, Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Sixteen relevant articles were retained for analysis after evaluating 2106 articles. The included studies encompassed 14,556 participants. Using content analysis based on the theory of cultural stratification, the study summarized 12 culturally related factors: spiritual culture (body perspective, death perspective, life perspective, values perspective, filial piety, social opinion); institutional culture (funeral rites, commemorative ceremonies, donation procedures, legal); and material culture (monuments and memorials, reception institutions). Overall, Chinese body donation was impeded by numerous obstacles that are not mutually independent. Measures should be taken including systematically integrating death education into the national curriculum, establishing a comprehensive donation system, advancing the development of material culture, and leveraging media and digital technologies to promote the sustainable and healthy development of modern medicine.