An assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding organ donation among students and physicians

To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of students and physicians regarding tissue and organ donation at a teaching hospital.

The cross-sectional study was conducted at the Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, in 2019, and comprised physicians and students of ether gender. Data was collected using a 43-item self-administered questionnaire. Dichotomous questions were scored as 1 or 0, while multiple-option questions were scored as 2, 1 or 0. Data was analysed using SPSS 25.

Of the 859 subjects, 761(88.6%) were students with a mean age of 20.3±1.5 years and 98(11.4%) were physicians with a mean age of 30.6±9.4. Among the students, 630(82.8%) were medical students, while 131(17.2%) were dental. The largest group among the students was of those in the second year of their studies 271(35.6%). Besides, 531(69.8%) and 64(65.3%) physicians were females. Compared to males, female students reported better mean scores in terms of attitude, while higher practice scores were obtained by both male students and physicians (p=0.021). Muslim subjects scored comparatively lower in knowledge, attitude and practice terms than non-Muslims (p<0.05).

There were high knowledge and attitude scores, while scores reflecting practice were low. Effective measures should be taken to encourage medical professionals to donate organs and promote organ donation.