Awareness and attitude about organ and body donation among medical students and faculty members

Authors

  • Prasann Rasania Department of Otorhinolaryngology, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India
  • Kuldip Kumar Department of Psychiatry, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India
  • Mansi Mathur Department of Community Medicine, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, India
  • S. K. Rasania Department of Community Medicine, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20211220

Keywords:

Awareness, Body donation, Organ donation

Abstract

Background: Deh daan, body donation is an act of bestowing one’s body after death to medical college for research and education. Importance of this is also written in our ancient literatures. Knowledge, attitude and behavior of healthcare professionals are important factors in fostering an environment that can encourage and promote organ donation among the entire population. Medical students are the future doctors of the country, and faculty members as a guide and knowledge providers, their positive attitude and high level of knowledge can create a positive environment and promote organ donation.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional type of study was carried out among 360 undergraduate medical students and faculty of Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital in South Delhi using self-administered, predesigned, pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Of these 360 undergraduate medical students and faculties, 60 faculty and equal number of students from each year (60/year) were randomly selected.

Results: Out of 360 study subjects 222 (63.7%) were male and 138 (36.3%) were female. Almost all respondents were aware of term body donation (88.1%) and organ donation (95.6%). Majority (82.2%) of respondents had correct knowledge regarding time duration for viability of organ donation though the knowledge regarding age limit in donating organ was poor. Majority (87.8%) respondents were willing to support organ donation, almost equal among male (87.4%) and female (88.4%) but only 13.6% were willing to take pledge for organ donation.

Conclusions: Through regular seminars on organ donation and body donation the medical fraternity can be kept updated on developments in the transplantation fields and research. This may help them counsel their patients and address their anxieties regarding organ and body donation in a better way.

 

Author Biographies

Prasann Rasania, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India

Junior Resident

Kuldip Kumar, Department of Psychiatry, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India

Professor and Head

Mansi Mathur, Department of Community Medicine, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, India

Ex-Senior Resident,

S. K. Rasania, Department of Community Medicine, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, India

Director Professor & Head,

References

Tissue Donation and the Attitudes of Health Care Professionals. In: Sque M, Payne S, eds. Organ and tissue donation: An evidence base for practice. 1st edn. Maidenhead UK: Open University Press; 2007.

Rokade SA, Bahetee BH. Body donation in India: a review. Int J Res Med Sci. 2013;1(3):173-7.

Koushal V, Rai AK, Gupta AK. Organ donation promotion in India: a critical analysis. Int J Health Sci Res. 2014;4(8):226-8.

Edwards TM, Essman C, Thornton JD. Assessing racial and ethnic differences in medical student knowledge, attitudes and behaviors regarding organ donation. J Nat Med Assoc. 2007;99(2):131-7.

Ghods AJ. Ethical issues and living unrelated donor kidney transplantation. Iran J Kidney Dis. 2009;3(4):183-91.

Edwards AG, Weale AR, Morgan JD. A survey of medical students to assess their exposure to and knowledge of renal transplantation. BMC Med Educ. 2004;4(1):32.

Government of India. Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994. Available at: http://www.mohfw.nic.in/. Accessed on 11 December 2013.

MOHAN (Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network). Available at: http://www.mohanfoundation.org/download_donorcard.asp. Accessed on 03 January 2014.

Edwin AR, Raja D. Attitudes of health care profession towards organ donation. Indian J Vrol. 2000;16:98-705.

Prachi SA, Bansal S, Sood KS, Saxena A. Body donation- a dilemma among doctors. J Evol Med Dent Sci. 2013;2(16):2585.

Park JT, Jang Y, Park MS, Pae C, Park J, Hu KS, et al. The trend of body donation for education based on Korean social and religious culture. Anat Sci Educ. 2011;4(1):33-8.

Richardson R, Hurwitz B, Donors’ attitudes towards body donation for dissection. Lancet. 1995;3461995:277-9.

Prakash LV, Prabhu Anu V, Ranade SM. Donation of bodies for cadaveric dissection in medical colleges. J Pafmat. 2006;6:17-9.

Bansal S, Saxena A, Aneja PS, Juneja A. Role of dissection in influencing the outlook of medicos towards cadaveric donation. Int J Pure Appl Sci Technol. 2013;17(1):84.

Bapat U, Kedlaya PG, Gokulnath organ donation, awareness, attitudes and beliefs among post graduate medical students. Saudi J Kidney Dis Transpl. 2010;21:174-80.

Appaji AC, Kulkarni R. A survey on the role and the status of cadavers in medical education: an Indian scenario. J Clin Diagn Res. 2012;6(7):1132-6.

Ilango S, Nandhini MU, Manikandan S, Sembulingam P. Awareness of organ donation among fresh students in medical field. Int J Med Sci Clin Invent. 2014;1:274-83.

Bilgel H, Sadikoglu G, Bilgel N. Knowledge and attitudes about organ donation among medical students. Transpl Med. 2006;18:91-6.

Salmani MNB, Nozary H, Shabanzadeh P, Nodoushan S, Nadoushan RJ, Yazdi F. Knowledge and attitude of iranian physicians towards organ and tissue donation. Int J Org Transpl Med. 2014;5(2).

Bardell T, Hunter DJ, Kent WD, Jain MK. Do medical students have the knowledge needed to maximize organ donation rates? Can J Surg. 2003;46(6):453.

Eziyi AK, Osho PO, Ajao KO, Ojo OE, Badmus TA, Salako AA. Determinants of acceptance of organ donation among medical students, Nigeria. Int J Med Med Sci. 2014;1:116-21.

Downloads

Published

2021-03-25

How to Cite

Rasania, P., Kumar, K., Mathur, M., & Rasania, S. K. (2021). Awareness and attitude about organ and body donation among medical students and faculty members. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 8(4), 1698–1703. https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20211220

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles