title: Level of awareness of personnel in hospital services related to the donation process: A Spanish and Latin American multicenter study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Services related to the donation and transplantation process are fundamental for developing solid organ transplantation and procuring organs from deceased donors. This study was conducted to analyze the attitude toward deceased organ donation among hospital personnel working in donation- and transplantation-related services in hospitals in Spain and Latin America.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nine hospital centers within the "International Donor Collaborative Project" were selected (Spain, Mexico, Cuba, and Costa Rica). A random employee sample was taken and stratified according to the type of service and job category in transplant-related hospital services.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 925 employees surveyed, 78% were in favor of donation. By job category, attitude was more favorable among physicians (89%; p < 0.001). By type of service, attitude was more positive among personnel in transplant patient follow-up units (87%; p = 0.018). By country, the Cubans were most in favor (91%), followed by the Mexicans (81%), the Costa Ricans (77%), and the Spanish (70%; p < 0.001). Other factors were age (p < 0.001), sex (p = 0.005), considering the possibility of needing a transplant (p = 0.002), understanding the concept of brain death (p < 0.001), being in favor of living donation (p < 0.001), having discussed the subject of donation and transplantation within the family and the partner (p < 0.001), carrying out pro-social activities (p = 0.002), and concern about mutilation after donation (p = 0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Transplant-related personnel had a favorable attitude toward deceased donation, although it was not as positive as we would expect, especially among non-physicians. This attitude needs to be improved because of the negative effect that can result in organ donation. There were pronounced differences between countries, and the discordance between attitude and actual deceased donation rates in each country is notable.
authors.affiliation: International Collaborative Donor Project, Murcia, Spain. arzrios@teleline.es
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ríos Zambudio
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: López-Navas
authors.forename: Marcos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ayala-García
authors.forename: María José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sebastián
authors.forename: Anselmo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abdo-Cuza
authors.forename: Jeannina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alán
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martínez-Alarcón
authors.forename: Ector Jaime
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.forename: Gerardo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.forename: Gerardo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Palacios
authors.forename: Juliette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suárez-López
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Castellanos
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: Miguel Angel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Díaz
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.forename: Pascual
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Parrilla
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D003364:Costa Rica; D003462:Cuba; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000379:methods*