Knowledge, Attitude and Perception Regarding Organ Donation: A Comparative Study among Medical and Non-Medical Students in Lahore

Main Article Content

Dr. Tazeem Akhter, Dr Rabbiya Sarwar, Dr.Saleem Ahmed, Dr Ahsan Masood, Dr. Raja Sajjad Asghar

Abstract

Organ Donation is the process of surgically removing an organ or tissue from one person and placing it into another person. The engraftment of this tissue for the purpose of restoring the body function is called transplantation.


Objectives: The objectives of this study were: - 1) To assess and compare the knowledge, attitude and perception regarding organ donation among medical and non-medical students. 2) To assess their willingness to donate their own organs or those of a deceased relative in a setting without well-organized organ donation programs and education


Methodology: A cross sectional comparative study was conducted among medical and non-medical students of different institutes of Lahore, Pakistan. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 470 undergraduate medical and non-medical students. Among them 256 were of medical field and 214 students from non-medical group. Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 24.


Results The median score on knowledge, attitude, and perception among the medical students was 16 (14–17), 25 (23–28), and 41 (38–45), respectively, and among the nurses, the scores were 14 (12–16), 25 (22–27), and 39 (33–42), respectively. Almost half (46.9%) of the study participants knew the definition for brain death. Twenty-nine percent of the study participants knew about the existence of law toward organ donation; more than half of those participants (52.7%) mentioned few rules and regulation involved in the laws pertaining to organ donation. Knowledge and attitude of medical students were found to be better than non-medical students but still not up to mark.


Conclusion


Overall students are not well aware of brain death and existence of organ donation law. Most of the medical students are in favor of organ donation but doubts still exist among few of the participants which could be understood through further research in this field.

Article Details

Section
Articles