Deepthi Karini1, Sunitha S2, Devi Madhavi B3
Organ transplantation is considered one of the greatest advances of modern science that has given many patients a renewed lease of life. Assessing the medical student’s knowledge, attitude and perception regarding organ donation is very important for future organ supply as they are the future doctors who needs to motivate the public to pledge their organs for donation. AIM & OBJECTIVES: 1) To study the knowledge and attitude of the medical students towards organ donation. 2) To understand the perceptions of medical students regarding organ donation. STUDY DESIGN: A cross sectional study of descriptive nature. STUDY SETTING: Study was conducted at Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The study was done among 123 medical students of 9th semester using a semi-structured questionnaire. Knowledge was assessed by giving score to the responses. Those obtaining a score of 50% or above were considered as having adequate knowledge. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Data was entered in MS excel and analysed using SPSS student version 21. RESULTS: Overall 56 % of students were found to have adequate knowledge. Around one fourth of the study population knew about the various organs which can be donated (26%) and about the minimum duration of organ survival (27.6%). Around 48.8% students showed positive attitude towards organ donation and wanted to donate their organs. CONCLUSION: It has been found in the study about the gaps in the knowledge levels of medical students about organ donation. These findings draw attention to a need to review medical school curricula to ensure that they contain sufficient teaching on organ donation, with a focus on information needed by physicians to maximize donation rates. This can be utilized as a strategy for the shortage of donor organs for transplantation.
