Do the Senegalese Who Immigrate to Southern Europe Know About the Brain Death Concept?

The Senegalese population is migrating massively to southern Europe, especially Spain, France, and Italy. The ignorance of the concept of brain death (BD) is one of the main factors that condition organ donation.

To analyze the knowledge of the BD concept among the Senegalese population who currently reside in Spain.

A sample of the population born in Senegal who are ≥15 years of age and currently living in Spain, stratified by age and sex, were surveyed. The assessment instrument is the questionnaire of attitude toward donation and transplant-Proyecto Colaborativo Internacional Donante sobre Donación y Trasplante de Órgano (in Spanish) RIOS-which is self-administered, with anonymous completion and prior verbal consent. The statistics used were descriptive, χ² test, Student t test, and a logistic regression analysis.

The survey included 468 people. Of these, 25% (n = 115) know about the BD concept and accept it as the death of a person. Of the rest, 57% (n = 266) do not know the meaning of the BD concept, and 18% (n = 87) have a misconception. Those who know the concept have a more favorable attitude toward the donation of their own organs after dying than those who do not (41% vs 14%, P < .001). Having talked about the transplant (P < .001), a couple's opinion about organ donation (P < .001), and religion (P < .001) are related to knowledge of the BD concept. In the multivariate analysis, the association with the attitude in favor of cadaver organ donation (P < .001, OR = 3.848) and religion (P < .001, OR = 12.332) is maintained.

The lack of knowledge of the BD concept in the Senegalese population has a negative effect on the attitude toward organ donation.