Awareness and attitude regarding organ transplantation among people residing in rural and urban area, Ernakulam district

 

Sreejesh. K.P¹, S Beula Shareef², Dona Cheriyan², Devi  M. ²

¹Assistant Professor, Amrita College of Nursing, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Deemed University AIMS, Kochi

²IV Year B. Sc Nursing Students, Amrita College of Nursing, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Deemed University AIMS, Kochi

 

ABSTRACT:

Back ground: Organ transplantation is one of the most miraculous achievements of modern medicine.  It   is the gift of an organ to help someone else who needs a transplant. But they depend entirely on the generosity of donors and their families who are willing  to make this lifesaving gift to others. One donor can give life to several people and restore the sight two more. There is a severe shortage of organs and the gap between the number of organs donated and the number of people waiting for transplant is increasing. Right now,  more than 10,000 people in the India need an organ transplant and every year 1,000 people die while waiting¹The reason behind this problem is the scarcity of donors. The main reason is lack of knowledge among the public regarding the organ transplantation..The purpose of the study is to assess the public awareness and attitude regarding organ transplantation so as to provide data on the learning needs of the specific population. The objectives of the study were to 1. Assess the awareness and attitude regarding organ transplantation in urban and rural population 2. Compare the awareness and attitude regarding organ transplantation in rural and urban population 3. Find the association between organ transplantation among rural and urban population with selected variables. Methodology: A quantitative research approach has been used in the study and the research design was Non experimental comparative descriptive survey design. The subjects comprised 50 peoples of rural and urban population  convenience sampling technique was used to select the sample. A self-administered semi structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from the people. A five point Likert scale used to assess attitude towards organ transplantation. The data thus obtained was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Result: The results revealed that 36 subjects  (72%) in rural area and 38 subjects(76%)urban area had  moderate awareness regarding organ transplantation. The results also show that 32 subjects  (64%) in rural area and 28 subjects  (56%) in urban area had favorable attitude towards organ transplantation. There was no significant difference found in awareness  score  and attitude score  between the rural and urban population regarding the organ transplantation. Statistically there was significant association between  the occupational status of the people residing in rural area and level of awareness score  and there was  a significant association between occupation and religion with attitude towards organ  transplantaion among people residing in urban area. Conclusion: Most of the people had moderately adequate awareness regarding organ transplantation. Despite the positive attitude towards organ transplantation the awareness  of the people regarding organ transplantation remains average. There is a need of providing education to the people regarding organ transplantation for improving their awareness and attitude.

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Organ transplantation is the moving of an organ from the body to another or from a donor site to on the location person’s own body,  to replace recipients damaged or absent organ. Organs or tissues that are transplanted within the same person’s body are called autografts. Transplants that are recently performed between two subjects of the same species are called allografts Organs that are transplanted are the heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, pancreas, intestine, and thymus. Tissues includebones, tendons, cornea, skin, heart valves, nerves and veins. Worldwide the kidneys are the most commonly transplanted organ, followed by the liver and then the heart.  Cornea and musculoskeletal grafts are the most commonly transplanted tissues, these outnumber organ transplant by more than tenfold.² Every year  500,000 people die because of non-availability organs.200,000 people die of liver disease , 50,000 people die from heart disease.150,000 people await a kidney transplant but only 5,000 get. 1,000,000 people suffer from corneal blindness and await transplant. Nationally with a population of 1.2 billion people, the statistic stands at 0.08 persons as organ  donors per million populations (PMP).This is incredibly and significant number compared to the statistics around the  world³.According to Kerala network of organ sharing the data from   shows that total cadaveric  organ donation was  483. Out of 483 cadaver organdonation 330 were kidney donation and the total cadaveric organ donation from and out of that 50 cadaver organ donation 31 were kidney, 14 livorgan donation is less against the need⁴. A cross sectional study conducted by K.K Manojan, Ramiz Raja A, Vincy Nelson, Nazeema Beevi, Regi JoseA(2014) regarding the knowledge and attitude towards organ transplantation in Kerala.The result showed that majority  (97%) of the participants heard about  organ transplantation but only 53% had a good knowledge. 48% had poor attitude towards being an organ donor. 50% thought that live organ transplantation can cause severe health problems. Organ specific willingness for transplantation among participants was highest for eye, followed by kidney and liver^4. This study showed that there is need of providing education to the people. Education help to promote favourable attitude towards organ donation. Right now, more than 10,000 people in the India need an organ transplant and every year 1,000 people die while waiting ⁵Even though there are some modern medical and surgical interventions in the present era to safeguard the life of the recipients and  improve their quality of life, this technique is not that popular. The reason behind this problem is the scarcity of donors. The main reason is lack of knowledge among the public regarding the organ transplantation. The first step in organ transplantation is creating awareness about organ transplantation.  The goal of education of potential organ donors is to provide the client and family regarding the factual information regarding the benefits and complications of organ donation. Researchers think that creating an awareness in the rural and urban area will help to develop a positive initiative towards organ transplantation .Providing the general public by relevant information and correcting some of the misconceptions are likely to increase the number of individuals willing to donate organs Several strategies have been adopted in order to maximize the number of donors in many countries, including increasing the number of organs transplanted from living donors, legislation and making the deceased’s person wishes expressed on an organ donor and legally binding. The main objective of this study is to determine whether awareness and attitudes about organ

transplantation differ according to geographical location

 

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Non experimental comparative descriptive survey design was used for the study. The setting selected for the study was selected 16^th ward of Nayarambalam Panchayat and 71^stdivision of Kochi Corporation. Target population was all the people residing in rural and urban in Ernakulam district and accessible population was  all the people between the age group of 25-60 years and available at the time of data collection residing in 16th ward of  Nayarambalam Panchayat and 71st  division of Kochi Corporation.  A total of 100 samples were selected. Out of that 50 were from rural population and 50 were from urban population. People in the age group of 25-60 years, who are able to read English and Malayalam and   available during the data collection were  incuded in the study. People who have undergone any type of organ transplantation , mentally challenged  and  not willing to answer the questionnaire were excluded.  Convenience sampling technique was used for the selection of samples.  A self administered semi-structured questionnaire used to collect the sociodemographic data and awareness level .  Socio-demographic data consist of age, sex, religion, place of residence, marital status, educational status, occupational status, and monthly incomeA five point Likert attitude scale was used to  assess the attitude of people towards organ transplantation .  Approval was obtained from research committee of Amrita College of Nursing and thesis reveal committee of AIMS. Permission to conduct the study had been obtained from the Nayarambalam Panchayath and  Kochi Corporation. Informed written consent was taken from the participants before commencement of the study. Confidentiality and anonymity of the subjects were maintained throughout the study, The data collection period of the main study was from 2^nd  november 2015 to 4^th  November 2015.  After obtaining permission from Nayarambalam Panchayath and   Kochi Corporation, 100 participants were selected by convenience sampling method. After selection of the participants, they were explained about the purpose of the study and assurance was given regarding confidentiality of the data. The data obtained to analyse in terms of the objective of the study using descriptive and inferential statistics. Frequency and percentage distribution  used to analyze the socio demographic variables. Independent ‘t’ test was used to compare the awareness and attitudes regarding organ transplantation. Chi square test was used to find the association of knowledge and attitude with selected demographic variables.

 

RESULT:

The study identified  that  34%of subjects belonged to the age group of  31 to 40 in rural area .In urban area 19 (38%) of subjects belonged to the age group of 31 to 40 and 18 (36%) of the subjects belonged to the age group of 20 to 30. In rural area  18 (36%) subjects were having the primary level education where as 17 subjects (34%) were having the primary level education.. Half of the subjects were unemployed in rural area whereas in urban area 30 subjects (60%) were  unemployed.. Majority of subjects 38 (76%) were Hindu in rural area. At the same time  34 (68%) belonged to Muslims in urban area

 

 

 

 

Figure 1: Bar diagram showing distribution of awareness regarding organ transplantation in rural area.

 

 

 

Majority of the subjects 36 (72%) had moderate awareness regarding organ transplantation in rural area. None of the subject had adequate awareness regarding organ transplantation.

 

Figure 2: Pie diagram showing distribution of awareness regarding organ transplantation in urban  area

 

Majority of the subjects 38 (76%) had  moderate awareness regarding organ transplantation in urban  area and  3 subjects (6%) had adequate awareness regarding organ transplantation

 

Table 1: Comparison of awareness regarding organ transplantation in urban and rural area.                          n = 100

 

Rural                                  9.66                   2.760     1.365ns 0.178

t (98)= 1.66                  ns =  non significant  at  p ≤ 0.05

 

The mean awareness score of the subjects in the urban area was 10.48 and 9.66 was the mean awareness score of the subjects the rural area.. As the calculated test statistics value 1.365 was lower than the table value 1.99  the awareness score of urban  area was not significantly higher than rural area.

 

 

Figure 3: Bar diagram showing distribution of attitude regarding organ transplantation in rural  area.

Majority of the subjects 42 (84%) had favourable attitude towards organ transplantation and only 8 subjects (16%) had unfavourable attitude towards organ transplantation in rural  area.  

 

 

 

Figure 4: Pie diagram showing distribution of attitude regarding organ transplantation in urban  area.

 

Majority of the subjects 41 (82%) had favourable attitude towards organ transplantation and only 9 subjects (18%) had unfavourable attitude towards organ transplantation in urban area.

                                                                                                                                     

 

Table 2: Comparison of attitude regarding organ transplantation among people residing in urban and rural area.               n=100

 

 

Rural                                  35.5                   8.681     1.046ns 0.298

t (98)= 1.99                  ns =  non significant  at  p ≤ 0.05

 

Researcher found that  mean attitude score in the urban area was 33.68 and mean attitude score in the rural area was 35.50.  As the calculated test statistics value 1.046 was lower than the table value 1.99. Hence the attitude score of rural area was not significantly higher than urban area

 

 At the awareness level there was significant association between occupational status and selected demographic variables in rural area. As the computed χ² value of occupation (χ²=15.035) was greater than the table value (9.49) at level of significance p ≤ 0.05  there was significant association between occupation and awareness level. There was no significant association between awareness level and other demographic variables in urban

 

At the attitude level there was no significant association between attitude and selected demograohic variables at the level of significance p ≤ 0.05. There was  significant association between religion and occupational status with selected demographic variables in urban area. As the computed χ² value of religion  (13.806)  was greater than the table value (5.990) there was significant association between religion and selected demographic variables. As the computed χ² value of occupation  (10.092) was greater than the table value (9.49) there was significant association between occupational status and selected demographic variable

 

DISCUSSION:

The study found  that only  3 subjects (6%) had adequate awareness regarding organ transplantation in urban area and none of the subjects had adequate awareness regarding organ transplantation in rural area. So adequate education is necessary . Regarding attitude both rural and urban had favourable attitude towards organ transplantation. The study identified that awareness level of rural area was lower than urban area but not much significant difference  .Attitude towards organ transplantation is more in rural compared to urban people but not significantly higher than  urban  The study result were supported by study conducted on knowledge and attitude towards organ donation among rural and urban population  in Riyadh by  Saad Abdullah (2010)  in the case of knowledge level. The result of this study was that rural respondence were less likely to have information about organ donation and have knowledge about brain death or the organ donation card than their counter parts in urban areas .willingness to organ donation is more in urban compared to rural .This finding is contradictory to this study .

 

REFERENCE:

1.     Organ donation the gift of life. Hyderabad: Apollo Institute of Transplant: 2010. Available from: http://giftalife.org/more-above-organ-donation

2.     Organ transplantation from Wikipedia the free encyclopedia http://en.wikiedia.org.1/wiki/organ-transplantation

3.     Nearly 5 lakh people die due to organ scarcity .India today 2015 August 26: 40

4.     Cadaveric Organ Donation Figures in Kerala retrieved from http://www.mohanfoundation.org                                                     

5.     K.K Manoranjan, Ramiz Rajat, vincy nelson Nazeema Beevi, Regi Jose . Knowledge and attitude towards organ transplantation in rural Kerala. Academic Medical Journal Of India:2014Feb:5;2(1);25-7.  Available from URL: http://medicaljournal.in/volume2-issues-feb-2014-48-original-research-knowledge-and-attitude

6.     Saad Abdullah Alghanim. Knowledge and attitude towards organ donation: a community based study comparing rural and urban populations. Saudi journal of kidney disease and transplantation 2010   Jan;21(1):23-30 

7.     Available  from   URL   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

 

 

 

 

 

 

Received on 19.06.2016           Modified on 25.06.2016

Accepted on 16.07.2016           © A&V Publication all right reserved

Int. J. Adv. Nur. Management. 2016; 4(3): 359-362.