title: Knowledge and Attitude Regarding Organ Donation among Relatives of Patients Referred to the Emergency Department.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Organ donation is one of the surviving procedures, which can increase the life expectancy of end-stage patients. Inappropriate beliefs and attitude of individuals to organ donation, their poor knowledge, and the socio-economic level are one of the most important barriers for organ donation. Therefore, here knowledge and attitude levels among relatives of trauma patients regarding organ donation were evaluated.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was done on relatives of trauma patients referred to the emergency department of Sina Hospital, Tabriz, Iran, through 2013 to 2014. The questionnaire included parts of demographic data and socio-economic situations as well as status of knowledge and attitude regarding organ donation. A score between 0-7 was belonged to each person based on his/her level of knowledge. Attitude level had a score between 0-12. Chi- square, Fisher, and Mann-Whitney U test were performed to assess the relation between demographic variables and the level of knowledge and attitude. P<0.05 was considered as a significant level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  79 persons (57.1% male) with the mean age of 31.3±11.3 years were evaluated. 57 (73.1%) of subjects agreed with organ transplant. The main causes of disagreement among relatives regarding organ donation were dissatisfaction of the donor's relatives (25%) and religious issues (15%). 49 (62.02%) studied people had inappropriate attitude and 27 (34.2%) ones had good knowledge. male gender (OR=5.87; 95%CI: 3.32-8.42; p=0.001) and self-employed job (OR=7.78; 95%CI: 4.64-10.92; p=0.001) are independent factors associated with poor knowledge about organ donation. Self-employed job (OR=3.86; 95%CI: 1.41-6.11; p=0.009) and poor knowledge (OR=15.3; 95%CI: 9.03-21.57; p<0.001) were related to inappropriate attitude toward organ donation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study showed that 73.1% of participants agreed with organ donation. The major causes of disagreements were dissatisfaction of other relatives and religious beliefs. 62.0% of the studied people had positive view regarding organ donation and 34.2% of them well informed about. The most important causative factors for poor knowledge in this context were male gender and self-employed occupation. In addition, poor knowledge and self-employed job were two factors associated with inappropriate attitude toward organ donation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahboob
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pouraghaei
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathalogy, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tagizadieh
authors.affiliation: Critical Care Unit, Tuberculosis and Respiratory Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tagizadieh
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Payman
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moharamzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Samaneh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Esfahanian
authors.affiliation: Road Traffic Injury Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Kavous
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shahsavari Nia
keywords: Organ transplantation; attitude; directed tissue donation; knowledge; tissue donors