The organ donation knowledge: an observational study among students and general population from Acquaviva delle Fonti, Bari, in Southern Italy

Abstract

For numerous patients suffering from pathologies that irreversibly damage organs and tissues, transplantation is the best therapeutic solution, and in several cases the only possible one. In this context the present study has set the objective to analyze the attitude of the respondents towards donation in relation to their education levels. A questionnaire was elaborated and administered. A range Linkert-score was associated with each question indicating as 0 the minimum preference and 5 the maximum preference. For each question participants had to indicate a single answer among proposals. Χ2 test among answers collected was assessed in order to statistically verify the significance between answers given by the two groups as regards organs donation. The recruited group was made up of 203 students of which 129 were girls (64%) and 74 were boys (36%). The youngest student was aged 17 and the oldest 21, mean age was 18.58±1.89 years. The population group considered in this study consisted of 203 subjects, of which 117 (58%) females and 86 (42%) males. The youngest person interviewed belonging to population group was aged 22 and the oldest was 87 years old, the mean age was 51.03±14.02 years. Our study revealed the attitude towards donation with a greater degree of consensus that has been demonstrated within the population rather than within students.