Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs on organ donation among students and lecturers in Quito, Ecuador

Abstract

Countries have reported that people's attitudes towards organ donation are influenced by knowledge, education and religion. In Ecuador, more than 800 patients are on the waiting list for an organ; likewise, the population does not recognize the importance of the donation. Although, since 2011, the Organic Law of Donation and Transplantation of Organs, Tissues and Cells states that all Ecuadorians are donors, but still, the high number of people on the waiting list is not well understood. The purpose of this study is to determine the factors towards organ donation of students and lecturers of the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador. This is a cross-sectional study, and the universe was the entire population; however, only 469 (students) and 321 (lecturers) answered, despite our efforts. We applied an anonymously validated questionnaire, and we sent it for five months by email. 89.8% of students and lecturers agreed with the donation; however, 10.2% of the students refused, and 14.6% of lecturers were undecided (p < 0.001). The highest hesitation was found in the age group between 36-64 years (14.2%), while the most refusal was found in the young adult, 9.4%. 40.1% of them alluded to have regular knowledge, while 27.9% claimed to have low knowledge about organ donation (p = 0.016). Based on their opinion, 65.9% said that a person with brain death could not recover, although 26.9% did not know (p = 0.023). 38.9% affirmed they did not know if their religions agreed with the donation. 78.5% claimed the best methods could increase the number of donors is education. Public health in Ecuador does not have sufficient regulations through its state policies that should favour recipients. If each citizen knows that their organs save lives, the waiting list will decrease, and state expenditures will reduce. However, the populations' beliefs are still related to an abuse of authority to donate organs without the consent of relatives.