Knowledge and attitudes of healthcare professionals and the impact on willingness to donate organs: a tertiary hospital survey

Abstract

RESULTS Of the 412 respondents (response rate 98.1%), the majority were nurses (60.4%), Malay (71.1%) and female (77.2%). Overall, 68.0% were willing to donate. The independent predictors of willingness to donate were profession (p < 0.001) and the Hindu religion (p = 0.001). Ethnicity (p = 0.003), religious belief (p < 0.001), knowledge (p = 0.016), belief in brain death (p = 0.018) and confidence in transplantation (p < 0.001) also independently correlated with willingness to donate, while attitudes to OD did not. Of those willing to donate, only 37.3% were carrying a donor card and only 63.1% had informed their family of their intention to donate. CONCLUSION Although willingness to donate was higher in critical care HCPs than HCPs in general, significant knowledge gaps as well as certain beliefs and perceptions that could pose a barrier to OD were identified in this group. Measures to improve OD rates in Malaysia should include targeted educational programmes for HCPs working in critical care areas.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Intention to Donate Organs among the Public, Health Sciences Students and Health Personnel: A Scoping Review with a Systematic Review of Malaysian Studies

“…Our initial search indicated that the shortage of organ donors is a result of a lack of knowledge regarding organ donation, which has led to passivity among healthcare professionals in promoting the organ donation process ( 19 ). Our findings, after thorough research, support this hypothesis, with respondents admitting that organ donation rates are low because of a lack of counselling by healthcare personnel ( 20 ). The cross-sectional studies provided an accurate representation of the healthcare practitioners’ opinions before the study, while the interventional study demonstrated the relationship between knowledge and willingness to donate of the respondents before and during the study.…”

“…The level of knowledge is an important factor, as it predicts the healthcare professional’s attitude toward organ donation. This notion is supported by the fact that doctors have a more positive attitude towards organ donation and are more willing to donate than nurses ( 20 ).…”

A scoping review of the perceptions of death in the context of organ donation and transplantation

“…37% were neutral and 14% disagreed that 5 min of unresponsiveness, apnoea and asystole are sufficient to pronounce death after withdrawing life support therapy Mikla et al Poland 2015 [ 11 ] To analyze the knowledge and acceptance of the brain death (BD) concept among nursing students (n = 369) knew the concept of BD and considered it to mean a person’s death. Of the rest, 19% (n = 93) did not know it, and the remaining 6% (n = 30) believed that it did not mean that a person was dead Nair-Collins et al USA 2015 [ 49 ] To evaluate the public’s opinion about organ removal if explicitly described as causing the death of a donor in irreversible apneic coma 19–38% of people willing to donate their organs after death were either unsure or unwilling to donate their organs in the circumstance of irreversible apneic coma with organ removal causing biological death Nasrollahzadeh et al Iran 2003 [ 27 ] To examine the critical items that influence nurse knowledge regarding the concept of brain death and attitudes toward cadaveric donor renal Tx 67% understood BD = death, but only 40% understood true concept and importance to BDD Nowak et al Poland 2014 [ 34 ] Assessed young people’s knowledge and attitudes towards determining death in transplantology and their impact on attitude toward organ transplantation 85% of medical students and 54% of nonmedical students considered BD as the death of a human being, and the majority of the remaining group was reluctant to form a final opinion about this statement rather than simply deny it Oo et al 2020 [ 61 ] Attitudes and knowledge of Malaysian ICU nurses regarding OD and BD, and relationship with sociodemographic attributes 12.1% of Malaysian HCW were not convinced or unsure of the clinical state called brain death Othman et al 2020 [ 38 ] International study comparing public opinion to BD vs DCDD 87.9% of participants exposed to the circulatory death vignette were certain that the patient was truly dead vs 84.1% in the group exposed to the brain death case vignette a small but significant difference (Cohen's d 0.176; p = 0:004 Public survey Canada 2005 [ 37 ] To survey the general public on awareness, attitudes and behaviours related to organ and tissue donation including the issue of donation after cardiac death 16% found the fact that surgery can start 5 min after heart stopping as unacceptable, 24 and 30% found the it unacceptable to perform procedures or administer medications to preserv...…”

Organ and Tissue Donation Consent Model and Intent to Donate Registries: Recommendations From an International Consensus Forum

“…70,73,74 Knowledge gaps are not unique to the general public but are also common among professionals involved with organ donation. 84,85 As discussed in Recommendation 10, multimodal professional outreach is key to implementation and should be provided in a manner that is accessible and engaging for professionals.…”