title: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Willingness Toward Organ Donation Among Health Professionals in China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purposes of this study were to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and willingness toward organ donation among the health professionals in China.
  
  
  METHODS
  Questionnaires were delivered to 400 health professionals from 7 hospitals in Dalian and 1 hospital in Chaozhou of China between October 2013 and January 2014.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In all, 400 health professionals were approached, 373 valid responses were returned. Over 90% of the participants knew about organ donation, but only 17.4% had taken part in some training courses or lectures about organ donation. Health professionals (64.9%) knew the shortage status of organ, and doctors knew more than nurses and nonclinical staffs (P < 0.01). Health professionals (97.3%) knew brain death, and 68.9% professionals thought brain death was the reasonable criteria to judge death. Doctors showed a higher knowledge level about brain death than nurses and nonclinical staffs (P < 0.01). Altogether, 60.1% approved deceased donation; however, only 48.5% approved living donation. Doctors' attitudes were more positive than nurses and nonclinical both in deceased donation (P < 0.01) and in living donation (P < 0.05). In all, 49.3% were willing to donate their own organs postmortem, and doctors had higher willingness to donation postmortem compared with nurses and nonclinical staffs (P < 0.01). The most (49.2%) commonly cited reason for refraining from donation was: "afraid that organs would be picked up inhumanely and body would be disfigured".
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Health professionals showed lower favorable attitudes and willingness toward organ donation than Chinese general public. A proportion of Chinese health professionals' knowledge about organ donation was limited.
authors.affiliation: 1 Graduate School, South Medical University, Guangzhou, China. 2 Guangzhou General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command, Guangzhou, China. 3 Public Health School, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China.
authors.forename: Dongmei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001293:Attitude to Death; D001926:Brain Death; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D019520:Living Donors / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000523:psychology* / Q000600:supply & distribution; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement; D055815:Young Adult