Exploring the knowledge, attitudes, and practices on organ pledging in blood donors and nonblood donors in Northern...

With advances in surgical and perfusion techniques, the demand for deceased organs is likely to increase. One way to bridge the gap between supply and demand is to increase organ pledging. Understanding knowledge deficits, attitudes, and practices can help in developing awareness programs to enhance organ pledging. Blood donors, among other populations, are more likely to engage in other prosocial behaviors and thus may be more amenable to the idea of organ donation pledging. The present study aimed to leverage the organ pledging movement through outdoor public outreach blood donation campaigns.

An online cross-sectional survey among 1272 participants using a self-administered, pilot-tested, validated questionnaire that incorporated consent after preliminary information.

A significantly higher proportion of blood donors (75% vs. 39%, P < 0.05) reported having more information and knowledge about organ pledging, donation, and transplantation and had already pledged to donate their organs (54% vs. 43%, P < 0.05). The knowledge and practice of organ pledging and actual donation increased linearly with the number of blood donations. Most of the blood and nonblood donors agreed (88% and 84%) with the positive items, while less than half (48% and 39%) disagreed with the negative items, thereby demonstrating an overall positive attitude predisposition. The odds of pledging were 3.8 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.69-5.61), P < 0.0001, and 2.5 (95% CI, 1.87-3.24), P < 0.0001 for respondents who had received prior counseling about organ donation and had previously donated blood.

Structured efforts to counsel blood donors on organ pledging can provide a foundation to support a self-sustaining organ pledging program.