title: Understanding of and attitudes to organ donation and transplantation: a survey among Italian university students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Students have a positive attitude to organ donation and transplantation, usually associated with their personal willingness to donate their organs after death. The aim of this study was to evaluate the opinions of university students on transplantation and organ donation, at a single Italian university.
  
  
  METHODS
  University undergraduates attending the first year on five different courses in 2001 were surveyed at Padua University by using an anonymous 13-item questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  97.2% of the students completed the questionnaire (77.4% females, mean age 20.4 yr); they were attending Medicine (33.8%), Agriculture (5.9%), Veterinary Medicine (11.4%), Psychology (18.5%) and Educational Sciences (30.4%). The majority was aware of the problem of the paucity of organ donations and deaths on the waiting list in Italy. Most students would accept transplantation in the case of a human donor (97%), an artificial organ (95%) or an animal donor (76%); and 87% of them were prepared to donate their own organs after death. No differences were seen when students attending science courses were compared with those attending art courses. Italian university students have a very positive attitude and willingness to donate their own organs after death, with no differences emerging as regards type of university education.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical and Gastroenterological Sciences, Padua University, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Canova
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Bona
authors.forename: Rino
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ruminati
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ermani
authors.forename: Remo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Naccarato
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Burra
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D016377:Organ Transplantation / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000523:psychology*; D014495:Universities