Perceptions and Attitudes toward Organ Procurement and Transplantation: A Medical Community Survey Analysis

Abstract

The practitioner who recognizes and facilitates donor referral plays a pivotal role in the donor process. Mechanisms that help to identify and resolve issues for these practitioners are crucial. To identify barriers and issues that the community perceives as important, a survey to elicit the perceptions, attitudes, and ethical values of its respondents—specifically with regard to the donor process—was commissioned. The main components of the instrument included perceived problems, attitudes and ethical values, knowledge of consent process, medical and legal knowledge of brain death, organ procurement organization problems and suggestions for improvement, future education recommendations, and socio-demographic characteristics of the respondent. The survey confirmed issues of concern and brought to surface issues that have an underlying negative influence on the donor process.