Organ donation
Attitudes to Brain Death and Organ Procurement Among University Students and Critical Care Physicians in Poland

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.transproceed.2009.01.109Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

The practice of retrieving vital organs from brain-dead heart-beating donors is legally and medically accepted in Poland, but public beliefs and opinions regarding these matters have not been sufficiently explored. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the attitude of university students to the concepts of brain death and organ retrieval, compared with the attitude of critical care physicians.

Methods

The cohorts of 989 students and 139 physicians completed a questionnaire based on a survey instrument developed in an earlier reported study on Ohio residents. Participants assessed 3 scenarios: (1) brain death, (2) coma, and (3) vegetative state. More than 48% of students classified the patient from the brain death scenario as alive, and 51% of them were willing to donate organs of this patient. Ninety percent of students classified the patients in coma and in a vegetative state as alive, but still 34% of them would donate organs of those patients. The group of physicians properly determined the patients' diagnoses, but 10% of them accepted organ procurement from patients in coma and in a vegetative state.

Conclusion

Our results supported the earlier observations of low public knowledge and inadequate understanding of brain death criteria and organ procurement processes. The majority of students were willing to accept organ procurement from severely ill but alive patients, in contrast with physicians. A considerable increase in public educational activity in this field is urgently recommended.

Section snippets

Materials and Methods

The survey protocol was approved by our Ethical Committee and by all Department heads. The study population consisted of undergraduate university students and critical care physicians. The students in their third and fourth year were randomly selected from 7 different departments during the spring semester of 2007. In addition, first year medical (preclinical) students were also included in this study. Medical students with clinical experience were excluded from the study and underwent a

Results

The demographic characteristics of responders are presented in Table 1. The total number of students was 989 and physicians was 139. Respondents who were mostly females (62%) in the student group were between 18 and 30 years old. A majority (92%) claimed affiliation to the Catholic Church. The group of physicians consisted of 59% women, of whom 81% were aged 30 to 60 years and 83% were Catholics with the remainder claiming no religious affiliation.

The understanding of brain death is presented

Discussion

The results of this study revealed that a high willingness to donate one's own organs among the student population (85%) as well as among physicians (93%). This rate was similar to data reported by others: 80% in Ohio,6 88% in Italy,3 and 69% in Brazil.10 Such a high rate was recorded despite the uncertainty regarding the criteria of brain death determination. Furthermore, students were unable to properly identify a brain-dead patient and half of them considered the patient in this scenario to

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