Elsevier

Transplantation Proceedings

Volume 35, Issue 8, December 2003, Pages 2845-2850
Transplantation Proceedings

Kidney transplantation: donors
Influence of knowledge and religiousness on attitudes toward organ donation

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.transproceed.2003.10.078Get rights and content

Abstract

There remains a great need for organ donation. Each year thousands of individuals wait for organs to be donated for transplantation. In this study, the Organ Donation Attitude Survey (ODAS) was developed. One hundred ninety undergraduate students (114 women with a mean age of 20.0 and 76 men with a mean age of 20.5 years) enrolled in general education classes at a small midwestern university participated. The present study determined that ODAS is a reliable and valid instrument to assess attitudes regarding organ donation. The data were analyzed by stepwise regression to determine which variables were related to attitudes regarding organ donation. The results indicated the impact of four variables: education regarding organ donation, knowledge of someone who had donated an organ after death, awareness of anyone who received a donated organ, and religious beliefs. These significant variables in the regression analysis explained 24.95% of the ODAS total score variability. The most important results of the present study indicated that the ODAS was psychometrically valid and it could be used to evaluate attitudes regarding organ donation.

Section snippets

Participants

After approval of the research proposal from the Institutional Review Board, 190 undergraduate students enrolled in general education classes at a small midwestern university participated. One hundred fourteen were women and 76 were men. The mean age of females was 20.0, with a range from 17 to 32 years. Ninety-four percent of women were white. The mean age of men was 20.5, with a range from 18 to 48 years. Ninety-three percent of men were white. Table 1 displays the religious affiliations of

Results

The psychometric properties of the ODAS were evaluated in several ways. Split-half reliability utilizing even and odd questions of the ODAS assessed reliability. The split-half reliability coefficient was .82 (P < .0001). Reliability was also assessed with Cronbach's alpha. (value of .90; P < .0001.)

The validity of the ODAS was evaluated by content and construct validity. In terms of content validity, the items on the ODAS were created to assess the nature of individual's attitudes regarding

Discussion

As expected, knowledge of the transplantation procedure and knowing someone who gave or received an organ was associated with a more positive attitude toward organ donation. These findings have a number of implications. As pointed out by Radecki and Jaccard,3 movies and media coverage of the transplantation process can have a significant impact on the general public. As most people do not have personal experience with organ donation, accurate coverage of this process can increase knowledge and

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