Public knowledge and attitudes on organ donation do not differ in Germany and Spain

The background of this study was the inadequate supply of donor organs in Germany. In Spain, by contrast, a strong increase of organ donors over the past years has created a satisfactory supply situation. Because both countries have similar legal situations, the causes for the drastic differences in organ donation rates remain unclear. The main issue of our study was to investigate the intellectual attitudes toward various aspects of postmortem donations in the populations of both countries as a causative factor for the observed differences.

We studied 726 persons by questionnaire. Probands, matched for age and gender, were recruited among medical students, in a public library and in a general medical practice in both Germany and Spain.

We found no differences in the attitudes toward postmortem organ donation between the two countries. Differences among the social groups within the countries were apparent in the expected direction.

A higher level of knowledge or a difference in attitudes toward organ donation is probably not the reason for the higher donation rate in Spain. The cause appears to be rather at the organizational level.