Beliefs and Intention to Organ Donation: A Household Survey

Organ transplantation is considered as the last therapeutic option for the treatment for end-stage organ failure. However, the gap between the demand and supply of transplantable organs is still wide. Extensive researches have been conducted to understand this gap, and many countries have introduced Opt-out laws and have started targeted awareness programs. We aimed to assess, among the household residents, the normative behavior and beliefs and its correlation to intentions toward becoming organ donors.

A household survey with the resident population of Qatar was conducted from October 2016 to November 2016. A sample of 1044 individuals aged 18 and above, residing in eight municipalities within the country, was selected using a two-stage systematic random sampling method to understand the relationship between organ donation intentions and behavioral, normative, and control beliefs. Independent female enumerators collected data on electronic tablets and exported to SPSS for data analysis.

Data from 930/1044 (89%) individuals responded to the intention-related questions were taken for final analysis. Multivariate analysis brought out that behavioral beliefs (standardized beta coefficient = 0.25, t = 6.5, P = 0.001) and normative beliefs (standardized beta coefficient = 0.32, t = 8.4, P = 0.001) were significant contributors to intention to donate organs whereas control beliefs (standardized beta coefficient = -0.07, t = -2.3, P = 0.02) were negatively associated to organ donation intention.

Findings indicate that behavioral and normative beliefs play a very important role in contributing to the intention of the individual toward organ donation.