title: Level of awareness about transplantation, brain death and cadaveric organ donation in hospital staff in India.
abstract: A questionnaire was distributed in a group of randomly selected hospital staff to ascertain the level and factors associated with awareness regarding organ transplantation, brain death, and cadaveric organ donation. Between October and December 2000, a total of 166 paramedical (nurses, technologists, medical physicists) and 100 nonmedical (administrative, clerical, engineering, social scientists, and miscellaneous) staff of a tertiary referral academic hospital in northern India received this questionnaire. Ninety-seven percent had good to excellent awareness about transplantation, 17.3% of the hospital staff thought that brain death was a reversible process, and 59.4% had misconceptions about the retrieval of cadaveric organs. A significant positive correlation (r = 0.147, P = .01) was observed between the awareness of transplantation, brain death, and organ donation. A significant association was also observed between the workplace (operating room and intensive care unit vs other areas) and awareness of transplantation (P = .048), and brain death and organ donation (P = .030).
authors.affiliation: Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: Pushpa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Anant
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Chandra M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Pandey
authors.forename: Hem
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chandra
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001364:Awareness; D001926:Brain Death / Q000175:diagnosis; D002102:Cadaver; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D016377:Organ Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000379:methods; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology