Knowledge and ethical perception regarding organ donation among medical students

Abstract

BackgroundTo determine the knowledge and ethical perception regarding organ donation amongst medical students in Karachi- Pakistan.MethodsData of this cross sectional study was collected by self administered questionnaire from MBBS students of Ziauddin University from 2010 to 2011. Sample size of 158 (83 First years and 75 Fourth years) were selected by convenient sampling and those students who were present and gave consent were included in the study. The data was analyzed by SPSS version 20.ResultsA total of 158 participants from Ziauddin Medical University filled out the questionnaire out of which 83(52.5%) were first years and 75(47.5%) were fourth year medical students. Mean age of sample was 20 ± 1.7. Majority of students were aware about organ donation with print and electronic media as the main source of information. 81.6% agreed that it was ethically correct to donate an organ. In the students’ opinion, most commonly donated organs and tissues were kidney, cornea, blood and platelet. Ideal candidates for donating organ were parents (81%). Regarding list of options for preference to receive an organ, most of the students agreed on young age group patients and persons with family. Willingness to donate was significantly associated with knowledge of allowance of organ donation in religion (P=0.000).ConclusionBoth 1st year and 4th year students are aware of Organ Donation, but there is a significant lack of knowledge regarding the topic.

Organ Donation: from Point of View of Students Doing Medical Internship in India

“…Regarding organs that can be donated, high awareness was observed regarding kidney, eye and liver donations ( Table 1). In comparison to our study, higher percentage of the final year medical students was aware about most of the organs being donated in the study by Ali et al [6]. In a similar study by Karini et al 26% of the participating medical students were aware of the organs that can be donated [14].…”

“…The interns in the present study were aware of live organ donations (48%) as well as donation following cardiac death (34%). Ali et al in a study carried out in Karachi, Pakistan reported that 59.2% of medical professionals participating in the study believed that ideal organ donor was a cardiac-dead person and 36.1% believed it was a living person [6]. 17.7% believed that a donor is a brain-dead person.…”

“…However, demands for organs for transplantation continues to overwhelmingly exceed the limited supply of organs via organ donation [6]. This extreme shortage of donor organs is especially seen in India where the organ donation rate is a dismal 0.34 persons per million [2].…”

Knowledge and attitude regarding organ donation and transplantation among undergraduate medical students in North coastal Andhra Pradesh

“…However contrary to our findings, In a study conducted by Ali et al and Alex et al, it was found that kidney was the most commonly donated organ, followed by others like heart, blood, cornea and liver. 17,18 The most common source of information on organ donation was media in our study followed by relatives and friends. Similar to the findings of our study, Sucharita et al, Saleem et al, Khan et al and Alghanim have found media (Television) as the major source of information among study participants.…”

Exploring scope for improvement in knowledge attitude and practices about organ, tissue donation and transplantation among postgraduate medical students in Mumbai, India

“…21,22 Our study participants endorsed higher awareness about cornea as well as kidney donation in relation to other studies among medical undergraduates, postgraduate students and professionals. 19,20,23 Other aspects of the study like chances of success of split liver transplant as well as transplantation of adult liver into pediatric patients, use of genetically modified animal organs and need for lifelong antirejection treatment posttransplant were not explored in the available published literature worldwide and so could not be compared. 23 In our study comparatively lower awareness (49.69%) was recorded regarding importance of time factor for organ preservation and transplantation than another study conducted among the medical students in Pakistan.…”