Public’s Attitude toward Organ Donation in Egypt: A Social and Conceptual Approach

Abstract

It is now well established that organ donation (OD) in Egypt gains utmost official support both from Islamic and Christian authorities. Yet, some social and behavioral obstacles may often obviate the full benefit of cadaver donors. Aim: To identify and analyze determinants influencing the public’s awareness and attitude toward organ donation (OD) in Egyptian population. Methods: At an outpatient setting of Qena University hospital (QUH), Qena, Egypt, care seekers were interviewed. Results: Participants mean age was 42.9±8.17y years. More than half (56%) of participants are aware of the presence of OD programs in Egypt. However such awareness was not significant as to improve OD knowledge score. Otherwise, the same score significantly increased by educational level [F(df 3, 812= 3.61, p=0.0002]. Importantly too, the participants’ OD attitude score significantly improved by education [F(df 3, 805) = 4.52, p=0.038]. Media was most accessible as an individual source of information about OD (16.5%), and the knowledge score varied by source of OD information (14.6% with Internet source, 13.3±3 healthcare source, 5.6±1.9 friends source, 38% more than one source) [F(df 6, 809)= 3.10, p=0.0016]. Only 43.6% of participants were willing to donate an organ after death. Conceptualizing OD as an anti-religious behavior was reported by 16.9% of participants. Conclusions: The current knowledge fabric toward OD among Egyptian bears a mix of negative and positive potentials. Improving OD knowledge standard assures propagating positive attitude toward OD and hence enhanced survival opportunities for organ failure victims.