Medical students' knowledge,attitudes and awareness toward organ donation

ObjectiveThis survey study aimed to evaluate medical students' attitudes, knowledge, and awareness toward organ donation.MethodsFor this questionnaire-based cross-sectional study, 1000 medical students were interviewed, out of which 950 students agreed to participate in the study and were enrolled. A questionnaire form consisting of 29 questions was used to determine the students' socio-demographic characteristics and rate their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors about organ donation.ResultsWhile 95.5% (n = 907) of the students stated that they had not donated organs, 41.1% stated that they had not yet decided to donate organs, and 59.7% stated that they had no specific reason for them not donating organs. Out of the participants, 68.1% stated that organ donation complies with the Islamic rules; 40.7% stated that the Directorate of Religious Affairs issued a fatwa on organ donation, and 39.4% stated that there are legal regulations on organ donation in the country. While 22.1% of the students stated that a person with brain death could come back to life, 19.7% stated that they did not know about this issue. The students who had donated organs and who did not show significant differences regarding the answers given to the questions about whether organ donation complies with religious rules (p < 0.001), where one must apply to donate organs (p = 0.032), the will to donate the organs of a relative with brain death (p = 0.004), and whether preaching in mosques and foundations is needed to increase organ donation rates (p = 0.042). Although there was a correlation between the students' grade and their attitude and knowledge about organ donation, this correlation was weak and showed no parallelism with increasing grades.ConclusionThis study indicates that medical students have inadequate knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors about organ donation. In our opinion, it is of paramount importance to provide physician candidates, who should set an example for society, with periodic training on organ donation throughout their academic life in shaping the national organ donation policy in the future.     

Effects of classroom education on knowledge and attitudes regarding organ donation in ethnically diverse urban high schools

Cárdenas V, Thornton JD, Wong KA, Spigner C, Allen MD. Effects of classroom education on knowledge and attitudes regarding organ donation in ethnically diverse urban high schools.
Clin Transplant 2010: 24: 784–793. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Abstract: School‐based health education is a promising approach for improving organ donation rates, but little is known about its efficacy among ethnically diverse youth. The impact of a classroom intervention was examined in a multicultural high school population where students’ ethnicities were 45% African American, 30% Asian American, and 33% Caucasian (allowing for multiracial choices). A baseline survey was administered to all health classes within two wk prior to intervention. On the intervention day, classes randomly assigned to the intervention group received an educational session, followed by a second survey; in control classes, the second survey was taken before the educational session. At baseline, non‐Caucasian ethnicity and male gender were each associated with lower levels of willingness to donate. Following the intervention, students in the intervention group demonstrated a significant increase in knowledge scores (p < 0.001), as well as positive movement of opinion regarding willingness to donate (p < 0.0001). Most importantly, the positive changes in opinion occurred independently of ethnicity and gender, in spite of these both being negative predictors of opinion at baseline. These results demonstrate that even a single classroom exposure can impact knowledge levels, correct misinformation, and effect opinion change on organ donation among an ethnically diverse adolescent population.     

Influence of knowledge and religiousness on attitudes toward organ donation

There remains a great need for organ donation. Each year thousands of individuals wait for organs to be donated for transplantation. In this study, the Organ Donation Attitude Survey (ODAS) was developed. One hundred ninety undergraduate students (114 women with a mean age of 20.0 and 76 men with a mean age of 20.5 years) enrolled in general education classes at a small midwestern university participated. The present study determined that ODAS is a reliable and valid instrument to assess attitudes regarding organ donation. The data were analyzed by stepwise regression to determine which variables were related to attitudes regarding organ donation. The results indicated the impact of four variables: education regarding organ donation, knowledge of someone who had donated an organ after death, awareness of anyone who received a donated organ, and religious beliefs. These significant variables in the regression analysis explained 24.95% of the ODAS total score variability. The most important results of the present study indicated that the ODAS was psychometrically valid and it could be used to evaluate attitudes regarding organ donation.     

Knowledge and attitude regarding organ donation among medical students and physicians

BACKGROUND: There is a discrepancy between demand and supply of donor organs for kidney transplantation. Health care providers can influence the willingness to donate or hold an organ donor card. It is unclear how educated current and future health care professionals are about organ donation and what constitutes their attitude toward this topic. METHODS: The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey among 1136 medical students and physicians to evaluate the knowledge about and attitude toward organ donation and transplantation at a large academic medical center in Germany. The authors used a 28-item questionnaire that included items on knowledge, attitude, and demographics. RESULTS: Only 8% of the respondents felt sufficiently prepared for approaching relatives of potential organ donors. Knowledge about and attitude toward organ donation were highly associated with increasing level of medical education. In multivariate analyses, knowledge (odds ratio [OR], 1.17; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08-1.25), attitude (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.02-1.04), and level of education (OR for preclinical students, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.20-0.76 compared with physicians) were significantly associated with the likelihood of holding an organ donor card, whereas age, gender, and personal experience with renal replacement therapy were not. CONCLUSIONS: Higher medical education is associated with greater knowledge about and a more positive attitude toward organ donation. Health care professionals with a higher education level are more likely to hold an organ donor card and also feel more comfortable in approaching relatives of potential organ donors. Educating health care professionals about the organ donation process appears to be an important factor in maximizing the benefits from the limited organ donor pool.     

Indo-Canadian beliefs regarding organ donation

CONTEXT: There is concern that a disproportionately high number of people of South Asian origin await transplantation in Canada. The donation rate is low in this population, and it is difficult to obtain good tissue matches. OBJECTIVE: To explore the values and beliefs regarding organ donation among Indo-Canadian people living in British Columbia. DESIGN: A naturalistic qualitative study was designed. Individual interviews and focus groups were held to collect data pertaining to beliefs regarding organ donation. SETTING: Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 40 Indo-Canadian persons participated; a wide range of ages, religions, and backgrounds were represented. RESULTS: The major themes that emerged from the data related to context (including family/community, religion, trust in the healthcare system, and knowledge about organ donation); and values and beliefs (including intergenerational considerations, death and dying, and the organ donation process). Participants noted that people from their community were reluctant to discuss death and relatedissues such as organ donation. Although there was recognition of the importance of individual decision making pertaining to organ donation, the participants believed that family and community members also should be involved. CONCLUSIONS: Beliefs varied considerably among participants, and one should not make assumptions about the beliefs of any one individual based primarily on that individual's membership in an ethnocultural community.     

Public attitudes toward organ donation

A survey of public attitudes toward organ donation and transplantation was conducted in a Turkish community. The 1030 subjects were chosen using a random, stratified method. Some 50.5% of those interviewed were willing to donate their organs while 33.7% refused and 15.8% were uncertain. A total of 53.6% said they would consent to donate a deceased relative's organs. Reasons for refusal to donate organs were as follows: fear that their body would be cut into pieces (43.8%), religious beliefs (26.2%), no reason (23.1%) and the belief that they would need their body and organs for their second life (6.9%). Attitudes toward organ donation were clearly related to level of education, age, sex, and socioeconomic status.     

Assessing the attitudes,knowledge and perspectives of medical students to chiropractic

Objective:

To assess second-year medical students’ views on chiropractic.

Methods:

A three-step triangulation approach was designed, comprising a 53-item survey, nine key informant interviews and one focus group of 8 subjects. ANOVA was used to assess attitude-response survey totals over grouping variables. Constant comparison method and NVivo was used for thematic analysis.

Results:

112 medical students completed the survey (50% response rate). Subjects reporting no previous chiropractic experience/exposure or interest in learning about chiropractic were significantly more attitude-negative towards chiropractic. Thematically, medical students viewed chiropractic as an increasingly evidence-based complementary therapy for low back/chronic pain, but based views on indirect sources. Within formal curriculum, they wanted to learn about clinical conditions and benefits/risks related to treatment, as greater understanding was needed for future patient referrals.

Conclusion:

The results highlight the importance of exposure to chiropractic within the formal medical curriculum to help foster future collaboration between these two professions.     

Public knowledge and attitudes toward organ donation and transplantation: a cross-cultural study

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitudes, awareness, and determinants of organ donation and transplantation in a Qatari population. DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study to determine the knowledge and attitude toward organ donation in a Peninsula Arabian Gulf country. SETTING: The setting was Primary Health Care (PHC) Centers and community-based study in Qatar. SUBJECTS: A multistage sampling design was used in a representative sample of 1600 Qataris and non-Qataris, including males and females of at least 17 years of age, from October 2003 to May 2004. In this study a 1305 (81.5%) subjects participated, each giving consent for the study. MEASUREMENTS: Participants completed a questionnaire assessing their knowledge, attitudes, and awareness for organ donation. RESULTS: Of 1305 samples, 637 (48.8%) males and 668 females (51.2%) living in urban and semiurban areas agreed to participate and complete the questionnaire. Of these, 762 (58.4%) were Qataris. There was a significant difference between Qataris and non-Qataris with respect to their age, educational level, monthly income, and occupation. In this study, 31.6% of Qataris and 29.8% of non-Qataris had no idea about the organ donation; 37.8% of Qataris and 32.8% of non-Qataris were willing to donate their organs. The majority of subjects preferred donating organs to their close relatives and friends. However, 83.8% of the studied subjects did not agree with an incentive-based approach for donating organs. CONCLUSION: This study showed that people should not be blamed for not being willing to participate in organ donation, but the health system and health education providers are responsible. A more effective approach should be tried regarding health education.     

Public knowledge and attitudes on organ donation do not differ in Germany and Spain

BACKGROUND: The background of this study was the inadequate supply of donor organs in Germany. In Spain, by contrast, a strong increase of organ donors over the past years has created a satisfactory supply situation. Because both countries have similar legal situations, the causes for the drastic differences in organ donation rates remain unclear. The main issue of our study was to investigate the intellectual attitudes toward various aspects of postmortem donations in the populations of both countries as a causative factor for the observed differences. METHODS: We studied 726 persons by questionnaire. Probands, matched for age and gender, were recruited among medical students, in a public library and in a general medical practice in both Germany and Spain. RESULTS: We found no differences in the attitudes toward postmortem organ donation between the two countries. Differences among the social groups within the countries were apparent in the expected direction. CONCLUSION: A higher level of knowledge or a difference in attitudes toward organ donation is probably not the reason for the higher donation rate in Spain. The cause appears to be rather at the organizational level.     

Knowledge,attitudes, practices and behaviors regarding deceased organ donation and transplantation in Malaysia’s multi‐ethnic society: a baseline study

Wong LP. Knowledge, attitudes, practices and behaviors regarding deceased organ donation and transplantation in Malaysia’s multi‐ethnic society: a baseline study.
Clin Transplant 2011: 25: E22–E31. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Abstract: Background: Malaysia’s organ and tissue donation rates are among the lowest in the world. The study aims to explore the knowledge, attitudes, practices and behaviors regarding deceased organ donation and transplantation in the diverse ethnic communities in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Methods: A cross‐sectional, population‐based, computer‐assisted telephone interview exploring multi‐ethnic participants’ knowledge, attitudes, practices and behavioral on deceased organ donation and transplantation was conducted from February to April 2009. Results: Although only 5.5% of the total participants (N = 1174) reported that they have registered to be organ donor, a further 35.2% of those who have not register for organ donation indicated willingness to donate their own. Significant socio‐demographic disparities with respect to knowledge and attitudes scores were observed. In particular, Malays (20.7%) indicated lower willingness to donate organs compared to the Chinese (36.6%) and Indians (51.4%) (p < 0.001). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, willingness to donate one’s own organ was associated with knowledge score (odds ratio [OR] = 1.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.13–1.22), attitude score (OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.05–1.31), secondary school education (OR = 1.46, 95% CI = 1.05–2.02), and Malay ethnicity (OR = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.03–0.94). Conclusion: Findings assist organ donation and transplantation organizations to reach out the diverse socio‐demographic and ethnic communities with cultural‐specific information about organ donation.     

贵州省ICU医护人员器官捐献知识及态度调查

目的 了解贵州省ICU 医护人员器官捐献知识及态度现状并分析其影响因素。方法 采用自制ICU 医护人员器官捐献知识 及态度问卷,便利抽取贵州省926名ICU 医护人员进行问卷调查。结果ICU 医护人员器官捐献知识得分率51.66%,态度得分 率73.17%。影响器官捐献知识的主要因素是学历、家庭居住地、性别、政治面貌、年龄、工作年限及职业,器官捐献态度主要的影 响因素是家庭居住地、学历及性别(P<0.05,P<0.01);器官捐献知识与态度呈正相关(P<0.01)。结论 贵州省ICU 医护人员 器官捐献态度积极,但知识掌握程度有待提高,其知识及态度受多种因素影响。应加强器官捐献相关知识的教育及学习,从而有 效提高我国器官捐献率。     

Do medical students have the knowledge needed to maximize organ donation rates?

INTRODUCTION: The chronic shortage of organs for donation could be improved by increasing the numbers of potential and actual donors. Physicians can play a key role in solving this problem but may miss opportunities because they lack knowledge about organ donation to answer questions or concerns. Education of physicians early in their careers may lead to better procurement rates for donor organs. We carried out a study at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., to determine whether medical students have sufficient knowledge of topics shown to affect organ donation rates. METHODS: Medical students from years 1-4 completed a self-administered questionnaire. Section 1 tested general knowledge about organ donation; section 2 tested the students' ability to identify potential donors; and section 3 dealt with the approach to the potential donor's family. Univariate predictors of mean test scores were assessed using the t-test. RESULTS: Of 322 medical students who received the questionnaire, 260 (81%) responded. The mean age of the students was 25 years and 54% were men. The mean knowledge score was 6.7 out of a possible score of 14. Third-year students had the best knowledge scores (7.6), followed by fourth- (7.4), second- (6.6) and first-year students (5.7). Teaching about organ donation and a student's comfort with approaching a family for organ donation were also predictive of higher knowledge scores. There was no correlation between knowledge score and age, gender or whether the student was carrying a signed donor card. Knowledge scores were low in all 3 sections. Thirty-six percent of students did not know that brain death means that the patient is dead rather than in a coma. Half the medical students believed that people of certain religious groups should not be approached about organ donation. CONCLUSIONS: Medical students possess limited knowledge about organ donation topics important for maximizing procurement rates. A teaching intervention designed to target these shortcomings may be beneficial.