Reluctance to donate organs: a survey among medical students

The organ shortage is a major obstacle in the development of the modern surgical life-saving techniques of transplantation. Romanians seem to be more reluctant toward deceased organ donation than most Europeans. A significant percentage of respondents from an European survey (31%) were unable to give a reason for their unwillingness to donate. Aim of our study was to assess medical students' perception of deceased donation for transplantation and to identify sources of unwillingness to donate organs from a deceased next of kin.

I performed a cross-sectional study involving 140 randomly selected medical students of mean age 20 years. The self-administered questionnaire contained 22 items; informed consent was obtained prior to completion.

The percentage of unwillingness or hesitancy to donate an organ from a deceased close relative was 38.6%, without significant differences in gender or living area. Desire for body integrity preservation and respect toward the deceased person were the most often indicated reasons to excuse the donation denial. Religious motives were indicated by only tbree subjects; church attendance was irrelevant in relation to willingness to donate.

Emotional and moral factors were most frequently invoked by medical students as justification for indecision or refusal of organ donation for transplantation.