arunpiravom1986@yahoo.in

Knowledge and Attitude of Adults Regarding

Common Misconceptions Involved in Organ

Donation

Arun Jose*

Knowledge and Attitude of Adults Regarding Common Misconceptions

Involved in Organ Donation at Selected Urban Community, Bengaluru

Abstract: Organ Donation is a boon to medical industry as it has helped in saving the lives of those

who would have died otherwise. There is a great need for human organs for transplantation. In fact,

the need far exceeds the supply of transplantable organs. There are several reasons for the shortage

of organs. Perhaps the most common reason is that people are hesitant to donate organs because they

don’t have adequate knowledge regarding it. In other cases people don’t wishes to donate his or her

organs may be due to the false beliefs surrounding organ donation.

Objectives: To assess the existing knowledge regarding organ donation among adults. To assess the

attitude regarding organ donation among adults. To correlate knowledge with attitude regarding

organ donation among adults. To associate knowledge and attitude of adults regarding organ

donation with their selected demographic variables

Findings: Assessment of level of knowledge showed that majority 52.22% had moderate knowledge,

only 5.56 % had adequate knowledge and 42.22% of persons had inadequate knowledge regarding

organ donation. Assessment of attitude revealed that the majority 50% had neutral attitude and only

6.67% had favorable attitude towards organ donation. The correlation between the knowledge and

attitude showed that there was a highly positive correlation. There was a statistically significant

association found between level of knowledge and demographic variables such as age, educational

status, occupation, family income and source of information regarding organ donation at p< 0.05

and when compared with attitude also the same demographic variables were significant .

Conclusion: Assessment of knowledge and attitude of organ donation revealed that there was

moderate knowledge and neutral attitude towards organ donation among the urban adults. So the

study concluded that there is prevalence of misconception regarding organ donation among the urban

adults which prevents them in donation of their organs.

Introduction

For all those who are born, there is one event which is certain and inevitable and that is death. Yet we

all live as if we are immortal. When faced with death in the family or in the course of professional

work we are completely unprepared and rudely shocked out of our illusions. Organ Donation is a

boon to medical industry as it has helped in saving the lives of those who would have died otherwise.

There is a great need for human organs for transplantation. In fact, the need far exceeds the supply of

transplantable organs. There are several reasons for the shortage of organs. Perhaps the most common

reason is that people are hesitant to donate organs because they don’t have adequate knowledge

regarding it. In other cases people don’t wishes to donate his or her organs may be due to the false

beliefs surrounding organ donation. There has been a lack of initiative from the Government after the

Organ transplantation Act was passed. So there is a great need for education and motivation both from

the part of people as well as government since main reason for organ shortage is just because of

improper or incomplete knowledge of people in donating their organ.

arunpiravom1986@yahoo.in

Need for the study Organ transplantation is one of the most spectacular endeavors till date. Medical advances have

contributed tremendously to its success ratio and have led to a significant increase in the number of

transplants being performed. But there is shortage for organs and low response to cadaver organ

donation. The shortage of organs has been due to the reluctance of many family members to donate

due to fear of the surgery causing loss to their health, smaller nuclear families with unmatchable

donors and a deceased donor programme that is still to evolve fully. Though the first cadaver organ

transplant was conducted nearly five years ago in Karnataka, such donations still remain a sporadic

event in the state. Even cricketer Anil Kumble's decision to pledge his organs to society in case of

brain death has not motivated the programme. There are over 1.5 lakh people in need of kidneys in the

country, over one lakh need liver and nearly 50,000 need heart transplant. The researchers own

personal experience while working in the clinical setting in which he has seen patients with ESRD

waiting for a donor and many a times they die waiting for the donor. All these prompted the

researcher to select the present study about common misconceptions involved in organ donation.

Statement of the problem A study to assess the knowledge and attitude of adults regarding common misconceptions involved in

organ donation at selected urban community, Bengaluru, with a view to develop a pamphlet.

Assumption

Demand for organs is growing but it is not in equilibrium with the supply of organ because people are

hesitant to donate organs. Lack of knowledge and common misconceptions regarding organ donation

may have an influence in the level of attitude in donating their organ.

Hypotheses H1 - There is a significant correlation between the knowledge and attitude of adults regarding organ

donation.

H2 - There is a significant association between the knowledge and attitude score of adults with

their selected demographic variables.

Conceptual Framework The conceptual framework for the study is based on Health Belief Model. This model represents how

the health is affected by various factors. In the present study these factors are considered as adult’s

knowledge, ideas and attitude, misconceptions about organ donation which has an influence in organ

donation. They may be based on factual information or wrong information. The health belief usually

results from within a person. So, the investigator felt that Becker’s model is suitable as conceptual

framework for this study.

Adult’s knowledge level can be influenced by various factors. The pamphlet which is

prepared by the investigator will reinforce those who have adequate knowledge and positive attitude

towards organ donation. Those who with moderate or inadequate knowledge towards organ donation,

with neutral and negative attitude towards organ donation it will act as a source of information. The

pamphlet will increase awareness, clarifies the doubts, and removes misconceptions, which in turn

increase the knowledge, develops positive attitude towards organ donation and it can be assessed for

further research which is not included in the present study.

arunpiravom1986@yahoo.in

Review of literature The literature reviewed for the present study was divided under following headings.1)Studies related

to misconceptions involved in organ donation,2) Studies related to adults knowledge and attitude

towards organ donation,3) Studies related to nurses role in promoting organ donation.

A descriptive study conducted at the Department of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine,

University of Gottingen on public attitudes toward organ donation and its commercialization on 120

urban people. The study found that current political and legal discourse neglects the central role of

reciprocity for lay people and patients. Lake of awareness and misconception is the main cause for

shortage of organ.

A descriptive study conducted at university of Delhi analyzed the opinion and understanding

of adult patients about organ donation and transplantation among 347 samples voluntarily completed a

questionnaire with 17 queries concerning organ donation. The study concluded that lack of interest

and moderately positive attitude of patients toward organ donation and lack of attitude is because of

the prevalence of misconception.

A pilot study conducted at Mumbai regarding knowledge and attitudes of adolescent students

towards organ donation. Students completed a self-administered questionnaire after a lecture. The

questionnaire included all aspects of organ donation such as promoting factors, need, misconceptions

etc. the study found that only 35.5% were willing to donate organs and the fear of medical negligence,

financial problems etc. were the preventing factors in organ donation. The study concluded that

Students' had a lack of information and misconceptions about organ donation.

1

Key:

= included in the study

..……. = not included in the study

. Increase awareness

. Clarifies the doubts

. Removes misconceptions

. Develops positive attitude

towards organ donation

Perceived

barrier . Moderate or

Inadequate

Knowledge

. Neutral or

Unfavorable

attitude

Pamphlet on Organ Donation. Meaning, Need, Organs Which

Can Be Donated, Myths and

Facts.

Cues of action

-Advice from others, media exposure,

previous experience and family history of

organ donation

Perceived

benefit

.Adequate

Knowledge

.Favorable

Attitude

Individual Factors Modifying Factors Likelihood of Action

Demographic variables such

as age, gender, education,

religion, family income,

occupation, marital status

and history of organ

donation in the family.

Organ shortage

&

Individual’s

misconceptions

Perceived

Knowledge and

Attitude

regarding organ

donation

Figure 1:-Modified Conceptual Framework Based on Rosenstoch’s (1974) Becker’s (1978) Health Belief Model

. Adults Need o Acquire

Knowledge on organ

donation and Need to

Have Positive Attitude

. Investigator prepares a

pamphlet on organ

donation and distributes.

arunpiravom1986@yahoo.in

Methodology

Research design:

Description of the tool

The tool consists of three sections

Section A: This section includes demographic proforma consisting of information of adults such

as age, gender, education, religion, family income, occupation, marital status and history of organ

donation in the family

Section B: It consists of structured knowledge questionnaire to assess the level of knowledge

regarding common misconception involved in organ donation among urban adults. This

includes 25 structured questions, which were categorized under two headings.

Section C: This section includes assessing common misconception involved in organ donation

among urban adults with a three point Likert scale. It consists of 25 items which were

categorized under two headings.

Data Collection

Phase 1: In this phase the researcher distributed the structured knowledge questionnaire and

instructions were given on answering the questionnaire and doubts were classified. Each client took

10 minutes to answer the demographic data and 25 minutes to fill the questionnaire.

Phase 2: In this phase the researcher collected the data on level of attitude of the samples by using 3

point Likert scale regarding common misconceptions involved in organ donation. Each client took 25

minutes to fill the Likert scale.

Phase 3 : Based on the results obtained the researcher prepared and administered the pamphlet

regarding common misconceptions involved in organ donation.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Descriptive Correlational Research Design

PURPOSE

To Assess the Knowledge and Attitude of Adults Regarding Common

Misconceptions Involved in Organ Donation

Data analysis: Descriptive and Inferential Statistics

Findings and conclusion

Samples

90

Structured

Questionnaire

KNOWLEDGE &

ATTITUDE

General Information and

Common Misconceptions

Regarding Organ Donation

DURATION

4 weeks

Instrument

POPULATION

Adults residing in

Upanagar

SETTING

SAMPLING

3 point

Likert scale

Upanagar

Urban community,

Bengaluru

Aruna Chetana School for

children with special needs,

Malleshwaram,

Systematic Random

sampling

arunpiravom1986@yahoo.in

Results

Knowledge regarding organ donation among adults.

The analysis of overall level of knowledge regarding common misconceptions involved in

organ donation depicted that majority 47 (52.22%) of the urban adults had moderate knowledge, 38

(42.22%) had inadequate knowledge and five (6.56%) rests on the side of adequate knowledge.

Attitude towards organ donation among adults.

Assessment of attitude among urban adults revealed that the majority 50% had neutral attitude and

only 6.67% had favorable attitude and 43.33% had unfavourable attitude.

Correlation between the knowledge and attitude regarding organ donation among adults.

The correlation between the knowledge and attitude showed that there was a highly positive

correlation between knowledge and attitude regarding common misconception involved in organ

donation. The obtained ‘r’ value was 0.870.

Testing of hypothesis

Association of level of knowledge with demographic variables revealed that there was

statistically significant association found between knowledge and demographic variables such as age,

educational status, occupation, family income and source of information regarding organ donation at

p< 0.05 and when compared with attitude also the same demographic variables were significant

14.44%

8.89%5.56%

55.56%

48.89%52.22%

30.00%

42.22% 42.22%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

General knowledge

about organ

donation

Misconceptions

involved in organ

donation

Overall knowledge

Per

cen

tag

e

Knowledge Aspects

Adequate

Moderate

Inadequate

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Favourable -

(≥75%)

Neutral - (50-

74%)

Unfavourable -

(<50%)

6.67%

50.00%

43.33%

Perc

enta

ge

Level of attitude

Favourable -

(≥75%)

Neutral - (50-

74%)

Unfavourable -

(<50%)

arunpiravom1986@yahoo.in

Nursing implication

The world is moving fast and the same way it has an influence in the medical field. Organ

Donation is a boon to medical industry as it has helped in saving the lives of those who would have

died otherwise. In fact, the need far exceeds the supply of transplantable organs. Nursing research can

be focused on various factors of organ donation, which could help to assess the hindering factors of

organ donation. There is a need for extensive and intensive research in organ donation so that

strategies for educating nurses and public regarding various aspects and phases of cardiac

rehabilitation can be promoted.

Indian Nursing Council and Universities should include organ donation and its need as one of

the main educational aspect in the nursing curriculum because the future nurses can increase the

number of organ donation by educating the patients and clarifying their doubts. In collaboration with

the regulation bodies, educational institutions can arrange and conduct workshops and seminars

regarding organ donation. Hence, the suffering and grieving of the persons who need organs can be

minimized.

Conclusion

Organ Donation is a boon to medical industry as it has helped in saving the lives of those who

would have died otherwise. There is a great need for human organs for transplantation. Worldwide,

the demand for organs is growing, as the supply of organs and tissues for transplantation has not kept

pace with demand. There are several reasons for the shortage of organs. Perhaps the most common

reason is that people are hesitant to donate organs because they don’t have adequate knowledge

regarding it. In other cases people hesitates to donate his or her organs may be due to the false beliefs

surrounding organ donation.

Bibliography 1. Harish Kumar. Death and organ donation. Amritha Journal of Medicine. 2007 Apr; 24(8):2.

2. Dr. Sunil Shroff. Organ Donation and Transplantation - Tribulations and Triumphs - An

Indian Perspective. J Natl Med Assoc. 2006. Jun; 17(11): 957-963.

3. Dr. Raghav Naresh. Organ Donation and Transplantation mythology and reality An Indian

Perspective. Journal of Clinical Transplant. 2006 Sep; 23(13): 779-786.

4. John DJ. Knowledge and decreased organ donation. Transplant proc. 2001; 18(6): 344-356.

5. Dunstan, GR. The ethics of organ donation. British Medical Bulletin. 1997; 53 (4): 921-939.

6. Eaton S. The subtle politics of organ donation: a proposal. Journal of Medical Ethics. 1998;

24: 166-170.

7. Nirmala Nagaraj. State could benefit a lot from changed rules. Times of India. 2009 Sep 9;

Sec A: 4(col. 3).

8. Robert MC. Budget and organ donation policies. British Medical Bulletin 1999; 66 (7): 587-

599.

"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is

woven into the lives of others." ------Pericles

* Padmashree College of Nursing, Bengaluru