The Influence of Age, Gender and Religion on Willingness to be an Organ Donor: Experience of Religious Muslims Living in Sweden

Abstract

The transplantation of organs is one of the most successful medical advances in recent decades, and transplantation is the treatment of choice for severe organ failure worldwide. Despite this situation and the general acknowledgment of organ donation (OD) as a global priority, the demand for organs outstrips the supply in virtually every country in the world. The study aims to elucidate whether age, gender and religion influence decision-making about organ donation in religious Muslims living in Sweden Data were collected through three group interviews using open-ended questions and qualitative content analysis. Twenty-seven participants, 15 males and 12 females from four countries, participated in the focus group interviews. The analysis of the collected data resulted in three main categories: "Information and knowledge about organ donation," "The priorities when deciding about organ donation" and "The religious aspects of organ donation," including a number of subcategories. Good information about and knowledge of OD, priorities in OD, importance of the fact that religion must be studied and taught daily and religious education were only a few of the factors informants emphasized as predictors of the total and successful donation of organs. Age, gender or religion did not have an impact on organ donation. High levels of education through religious education and good information via various media, as well as a good knowledge of the Swedish language, are predictors of improved OD. In order to overcome religious ideology as a source of misinformation relating to OD and to promote increased OD in the future, specific intervention studies and the improved involvement of religious communities and education in schools and the healthcare system are vital and must be a starting point for improved OD.

Socio-cultural factors contributing to being an organ donor in a religious context

“…This result is consisted with the previous studies conducted in Iran showing limited knowledge on several aspects of organ donation [43]. The findings of the Krupic's study on Muslims living in Sweden showed that if appropriate information is provided by the mass media about religious beliefs related to organ donation, there can be an increase the rate of organ donation [44]. A major challenge of mass media programs, especially TV, is that sometimes promote false beliefs and fears about organ donation [45].…”

The Impact of Religion and Provision of Information on Increasing Knowledge and Changing Attitudes to Organ Donation: An Intervention Study

“…They also mentioned that it is important to have a donor card. This has also been shown to be influenced by their religious education (Krupic et al 2018 ), which only partially agrees with the present study. In this study, the subjects had not received good education regarding their religion, but, after only a 4-h class about their religion and the healthcare system, they all changed their minds and decided to become organ donors.…”

“…Unfortunately, to the author’s knowledge, there are no other similar studies in the world regarding the impact of information and education relating to religion and organ donation. In a previous study, this author found that, although the subjects were generally well educated, they held on to their donation priorities, where family members came first, followed by their friends and finally anyone else (Krupic et al 2018 ). This study has surprising results because previous studies have shown that religious people often have a negative attitude to organ donation (Barcellos et al 2005 ; Irving et al 2012 ).…”

“…The authors found that people looked online, on television, radio and other media, as well as healthcare establishments, for information. In another study, it appeared initially that the subjects knew a great deal about OD (Krupic et al 2018 ). It is good for people to find information by themselves about both OD and the healthcare system.…”

Transplantacija organa i religija

“…u svom istraživanju ističu problem nedostatne informiranosti društva kao i zdravstvenih radnika vezano uz transplantaciju organa. S druge strane, religijski aspekt i predrasude jedan su od važnih čimbenika pri odluci o darivanju organa 5,6 . Donacija organa je pod utjecajem različitih faktora kao što su kulturološko nasljeđe, socijalne prilike i uređenost društva, etički elementi, zakonodavstvo određene sredine i religije 7 .…”