Survey of medical students of Shahed University in Iran about attitude and willingness toward organ transplantation

BACKGROUND: Transplantation is a successful procedure that prolongs the lives of people suffering from debilitating diseases. The purpose of this study was to assess medical students' attitude toward organ donation.

METHODS: The study population consisted of 262 medical students with a mean age of 22.1 +/- 2.5 years who were surveyed using a reliable questionnaire that examined their attitudes and willingness. All data analyses were performed using Chi-square and analysis of variance tests with SPSS.

RESULTS: The medical students had highly positive attitude toward organ donation (mean score 4.34 +/- 0.46) and a great willingness. Participants were more willing to donate their own organs than those of a deceased relative (85% vs 49.2%) to help others more than to develop science (91.2% vs 8.8%). The greatest willingness among students was kidney (84%) donation. There was no correlation between age, gender, education levels, and attitude toward organ donation.

CONCLUSION: These findings necessitate an organized education program of medical students in all aspects of organ and tissue donation.