title: A study on knowledge and attitude toward brain death and organ retrieval among health care professionals in Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The practice of retrieving vital organs from brain-dead donors is legally and medically accepted in Korea, but health care professionals' beliefs and opinions regarding these matters have not been sufficiently explored. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of health care professionals to the concepts of brain death and organ retrieval.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected using a 41-item questionnaire during a week in June 2011. Sixty-one doctors and 109 nurses from five hospitals with more than 2000 beds in Seoul, Korea, participated in the survey. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 17.0 (SPSS Inc. Chicago, Illinois, USA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were statistically significant differences in the scores on knowledge according to marital status (P = .001) education level (P = .019), whether the participants were informed about organ donation from a brain-dead donor (P = .002), and the participant's experience managing potential brain-dead patients (P = .037). There were statistically significant differences in the scores on the attitude according to gender (P < .001), age (P < .001), marital status (P < .001), education level (P = .003), job position (P < .001), and the participant's experience referring brain-dead patients to the hospital-based organ procurement organization (P = .001). Significantly, attitude's positively correlated with knowledge about brain-dead organ donation (P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Compared with previous studies, the knowledge and attitudes of health care professionals' regarding brain death and organ retrieval were not improved. There are passive attitudes to brain death and organ retrieval. More research must be performed to promote knowledge and understanding toward brain death and organ retrieval among health care professionals.
authors.affiliation: Surgery-Transplantation, Severance Hospital Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: K O
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: B N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: N-I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Byeon
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Son
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel / Q000208:ethnology*; D001293:Attitude to Death / Q000208:ethnology*; D001926:Brain Death; D032882:Comprehension; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004522:Educational Status; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000523:psychology*; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement; D055815:Young Adult