Public Awareness Survey About Organ Donation and Transplantation

• Published in: Transplantation proceedings 2013-12, Vol.45 (10), p.3469-3471
• Main Authors: Mohamed, E, Guella, A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Altruism; Awareness; Compensation and Redress; Fear; Female; Gift Giving; Health Care Surveys; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Islam - psychology; Male; Middle Aged; Motivation; Organ Transplantation - adverse effects; Organ Transplantation - economics; Organ Transplantation - legislation & jurisprudence; Perception; Public Opinion; Religion and Medicine; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Saudi Arabia; Surgery; Surveys and Questionnaires; Third-Party Consent; Tissue and Organ Procurement - economics; Tissue and Organ Procurement - legislation & jurisprudence; Tissue Donors - legislation & jurisprudence; Tissue Donors - psychology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0041-1345; 1873-2623
• DOI: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2013.08.095

Abstract Background This survey was conducted to assess the public perception on organ donation and transplantation. Methods A random sample of the population attending the outpatient clinics in Dhahran Military Hospital, Saudi Arabia, from December 1, 2011, to January 31, 2012, answered a questionnaire related to the above aim. Results From 582 subjects who answered the questionnaire, 85 were excluded for incoherent answers. From the remaining 497, 77.7% were males and 22.3% females with the age ranging from 18 to 65 years, and the majority was at a secondary or university level of education. More than 90% were aware organ transplantation and donation. From a religious point of view, 68.6% considered it legal to donate organs versus 26.2%. Those who disagreed with the concept of donation believed that one kidney is not enough to survive (50%), and that the remaining kidney may be affected (25.8%), whereas 15.2% expressed fear of the operation. Kidney transplantation was the preferred treatment for 73.2% of respondents and 12.75% were in favor of dialysis. Regarding financial incentive, 14.5% asked for reward from the government, 3.4% believed that the reward should come from the donor, and the majority (82.1%) stated that organ donation should be for the sake of God. Finally, there was a 61.2% willingness of respondents to donate relatives' organs after brain death. Conclusion The level of awareness about donation and transplantation in our population was found to be satisfactory. Religion was not a bar for organ donation; moreover, financial incentive was not found to be a positive stimulus toward donation because the majority was willing to donate for the sake of God.