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ABSTRACT
Introduction: Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practices on organ donation is essential for better understanding of the community on different aspects of organ donation. It will further help us in improving health education initiatives thereby removing the hurdles behind organ donation.
Purpose: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice about organ donation among college students in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and to study the association of sociodemographic factors with knowledge, attitude and practice of organ donation among college students in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Material and methods: A cross-sectional study was done among 440 students aged 18 years and above in Hindustan Arts & Science College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The students were interviewed with a pretested questionnaire. The study was conducted between January 2012 to September 2012.
Results: Though all the participants were aware of the term organ donation, knowledge about different aspects was low. 86.1% were not aware of legislation. 75%of respondents were in favor of organ donation, but only about 2% were registered for organ donation.
Conclusion: This study implies the need for intensified and sustained education campaign to raise the knowledge on organ donation and its practice among students.
Key words: organ donation, awareness, legislation, knowledge
INTRODUCTION
Worldwide, organ transplantation saves thousands of lives. The issue of organ donation is complex and multi-factorial, involving medical, legal, ethical, organizational, and social factors [1- 4]. According to WHO; kidney transplants are carried out in 91 countries. Around 66,000 kidney donations, 21,000 liver donations and 6000 heart donations were transplanted globally in 2005 [5].
Organ shortages are a global problem, but Asia lags behind much of the rest of the world. Organ donation following brain stem death is infrequent in India. The current organ donation for cadaver in India is 0.08 per million while Spain tops the list with 35 per million [6]. There is a huge shortage of organs in India, and patients die while on the waiting list as they do not get an organ on time. Only 5% of all patients with end-stage kidney disease are successful in undergoing kidney transplantation [7]. The current demand in the country for kidney transplants is 150, 000; liver, 200,000 and heart, 150,000 [8].
Human organ donation was legalized in India since 1994 through 'The...