Promoting organ donation among high school students: an educational intervention.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a high school education program to promote organ donation awareness. The primary outcomes were intention to discuss organ donation with family or friends and actual discussion behavior.

DESIGN: Longitudinal, observational study.

METHODS: 665 high school students filled out evaluations at the beginning and at the end of a 1-hour education program. One month later, the students were asked to report whether they had discussed donation.

RESULTS: After the program, knowledge and attitude scores and the proportion of students who intended to discuss donation increased (P < .05). At 1-month follow-up, 48% of students reported actual discussion. Intention has a strong, positive relationship with discussion behavior (odds ratio, 8.27; 95% CI, 3.18-21.51). Ethnicity, sex, and attitude of the students were also predictors of donation discussion behavior.

CONCLUSIONS: This program appears to be effective in prompting discussion of organ donation among high school students.