Organ donation: a pilot study of knowledge among medical and other university students

Physicians' knowledge of and attitudes towards organ donation may be a factor in organ procurement rates. There is a lack of information about how Canadian medical students perceive organ donation, and what they know about it.

This pilot study assesses the knowledge and attitudes of university students toward organ donation.

Medical students completed a self-administered questionnaire after a lecture. Non-medical students completed the same questionnaire at the university student center. The questionnaire included a test that was used to assess knowledge about organ donation. Attitudes were assessed by determining whether the student carried a signed organ donor card, and their reasons if they did not.

Of the 76 students in the first-year medical class, 39 responded. A sample of the first 40 non-medical students to visit a booth at the student centre was selected for comparative analysis. The mean age of medical students was 23.5 years; 23 for non-medical students. Of those surveyed, 56.6 per cent were women. Of medical students, 30.8 per cent reported carrying a signed card compared with 50 per cent of non-medical students. The most common reason for not carrying a card in both groups was apathy. Median test scores were 2.4/6 for both groups. Students carrying a signed card had a median test score of 2.7/6, with the median score for those not carrying signed cards being 2.2/6.

More investigation of the knowledge and attitudes of medical students regarding organ donation is warranted.