Public opinion on organ donation in Saudi Arabia.
To evaluate factors affecting the knowledge and/or attitudes of the Saudi Arabian public with respect to organ donation and transplantation, a cross sectional study was conducted on a random sample of 948 Saudi citizens between 20-60 years of age during 2005. The collected data included: knowledge about organ donation campaigns, knowledge of the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation (SCOT), religious knowledge towards related issues, attitudes toward organ donation and self or close-relative experience of organ transplantation. The study revealed that 58.5% of participants heard about the existence of SCOT, 91.1% knew the need for organ donation, and 92.7 knew that organ donation could save lives. The organ donation campaign was known to 62.3% of the participants. Of these participants, 57.9% were made aware of organ donation campaigns through TV ads, 52.8% from magazines and newspapers and 11.7% from scientific sources. While 23.7% of the participants were unaware of any issued Islamic fatwa regarding organ donation, another 36.1% did not respond to this question revealing a lack of knowledge. Forty-two percent of the respondents agreed to donate their organs after death. Among the various reasons against organ donation, 27.5% feared that the act of organ donation contradicted their religious beliefs, while 3.5% believed that there was no benefit to organ donation. It is concluded that a need for proper information dissemination exists. A multidisciplinary approach is suggested including government support backed by strong recommendations from knowledgeable religious sources.
Alam
Awatif Ali
AA
Department of Family and Community Medicine, King Khalid University Hospital, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. aa_alam@hotmail.com
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016377:Organ Transplantation; D011639:Public Opinion; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement