Educate, Re-educate, Then Re-educate: Organ Donation-centered Attitudes Should Be Established in Society

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Medical Sociology
• Bioethics

Background:

• Organ and tissue donation are critical for saving lives through transplantation.
• Understanding public knowledge, attitudes, and motivations is essential for improving donation rates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate knowledge and attitudes toward organ and tissue donation.
• To understand personal reasoning behind organ donation decisions in the adult population.

Main Methods:

• A survey of 4,000 individuals using a 25-item questionnaire.
• Face-to-face interviews with street-recruited adults over 18 years of age.

Main Results:

• 91.1% support organ donation, but only 75.3% want to donate.
• Low donation rates observed in individuals with less education, lower income, and older age groups (≥65).
• Religious concerns (38.4%) and insufficient information (58%) were cited as reasons for reluctance, despite 84% stating religion is not against donation.

Conclusions:

• A gap exists between hypothetical support for organ donation and actual willingness to donate.
• Educational campaigns and accessible information are vital to increase organ donation rates.
• Targeted interventions addressing religious concerns and improving knowledge are needed to convert support into action.