Attitude to organ donation among healthcare workers in Nigeria

As transplantation services are scaled up in Nigeria so will the need for organ donation. Crucial to the success of organ donation is the attitude of healthcare workers (HCW); this was determined in the present study.

HCW participating in three workshops were requested to complete a pretested questionnaire structured to elicit their attitude to organ donation. Predictors of willingness to donate were also determined.

Of the 205 questionnaires distributed, 182 (88.8%) were returned; 10 were excluded for incomplete responses. The mean age of the respondents was 39.9 (8.9) yr. The majority were females (76.7%), Christians (87.8%), and worked in tertiary hospitals (77.3%). Medical doctors made up 55% of the respondents. Of the 172 respondents, 102 (59.3%) reported willingness to donate an organ. The majority of Muslims respondents willing to donate would prefer living donation. Being a medical doctor (odds ratio of 2.64 [1.17-5.94]) was the strongest predictor of willingness to donate an organ. The most common reasons for unwillingness to donate were "fear of complications" (44.9%) and "mistrust of the health sector" (20.6%).

The majority of the HCW are favorable to organ donation. Being a medical doctor is highly predictive of willingness to donate an organ.