Sensitization Toward Organ Donation Among Medical Students in Spanish Regions With More Than 50 Donors Per Million Population

Abstract

The awareness of organ donation among health professionals is important at the time of transplant promotion. In this sense, the training and awareness of the professionals in training is fundamental.

Objective To analyze the differences in the attitude toward organ donation and the factors that condition it among medical students of regions with donation rates >50 donors per million population (pmp) with respect to those with rates <40 donor pmp.

Method Population under study: medical students in Spanish universities. Database of the Collaborative International Donor Project, stratified by geographic area and academic course. The completion was anonymous and self-administered. Groups under study: Group 1 (n = 1136): students in universities of regions with >50 donors pmp. Group 2 (n = 2018): university students in regions with <40 donors pmp. Assessment instrument: attitude questionnaire for organ donation for transplant PCID-DTO-Ríos.

Results The attitude toward organ donation for transplantation is similar among students from the autonomous communities with >50 donors pmp and with <40 donors pmp. In group 1, 79% (n = 897) of students are in favor compared with 81% (n = 1625) of group 2 (P=.29). The psychosocial profile toward donation is similar in both groups relating to the following variables (P < .05): sex, having discussed transplantation with family and as a couple, considering the possibility of needing a transplant, involvement in prosocial activities, attitude toward the manipulation of corpses, knowledge of the brain death concept, and religion.

Conclusions The awareness of organ donation in Spanish medical students is quite homogeneous and is not related to the local donation rates of each region.