INTRODUCTION:

Organ transplantation is the process of replacing diseased organs, parts of organs, or tissues by healthy organs or tissues. Approximately, 25 different organs and tissues can be transplanted such as heart, kidney, liver, pancreas, cornea, bone marrow, blood, skin, and ligaments².

Organ transplantation is recognized as one of the most gripping medical advances of the century as it provides a way of giving the gift of life to patients who need them. Organ shortages are a global problem, but Asia lags behind much of the rest of the world. Organ donation following brain stem death is infrequent in India.There is a huge shortage of organs in India, and patients die while on the waiting list as they do not get an organ on time³.

In India, almost 500,000 people die every year due to non-availability of organs. It is estimated that 1.5 lakh brain death occurs due to road traffic accidents (RTA) and if even 20% of them were to donate, all the requirements for organ transplantation in our country would be fulfilled². Transplantation is the treatment of choice for end-stage organ disease as it provides a better quality of life and long-term survival to recipients. However, the shortage of organs and donors is the main hurdle in transplantation. Social stigma, ignorance and illiteracy account for the majority of hurdles in organ donation in India. Several studies report poor knowledge of both the common man and the health care professionals on deceased organ donation and hence long-term improvement in organ donation rates can only be achieved by educating and motivating the people and health care professionals⁴. The present study was undertaken to assess the knowledge of general population regarding organ donation. An information leaflet on organ donation was distributed to the participants at the end of data collection in order to increase their awareness.

OBJECTIVES:

1. To assess the level of knowledge of general population regarding organ donation.

2. To find out the association between the level of knowledge of general population towards organ donation with selected demographic variables.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

A descriptive analytical survey was conducted among 100 People aged 18 years and above residing in a rural community of Ernakulam district. Structured knowledge questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge of general population regarding organ donation. Non probability quota sampling technique was used for selecting the sample. Data were analysed using SPSS version 20.

RESULTS:

Section A: Distribution of demographic variables of general population

Table 1: Frequency and percentage distribution of demographic variables of general Population n=100

Sl. No.	Demographic Variables	Frequency	Percentage
Sl. No.	Demographic Variables	(f)	(%)
1	Age in years:
	a. 18-40	43	43
	b. 41-60	30	30
	c. > 60	27	27
2	Gender:
	a. Male	54	54
	b. Female	46	46
3	Religion:
	a. Hindu	40	40
	b. Christian	60	60
4	Marital status:
	a. Married	84	84
	b. Single	16	16
5	Education:
	a. Illiterate	12	12
	b. Up to10th Standard	27	27
	c. Plus two/Pre degree	22	22
	d. Degree and above	39	39
6	Occupation:
	a. Unemployed	32	32
	b. Daily wager	22	22
	c. Govt. job	12	12
	d. Private job	31	31
	e. Student	3	3
7	Monthly income in rupees:
	a. <10,000	70	70
	b. 10,000-20,000	20	20
	c. 21,000-30,000	7	7
	d. > 30,000	3	3
8	Have you heard about organ donation?
	a. Yes	94	94
	b. No	6	6
9	If yes, source of formation:
	a. Television	60	64
	b. Newspaper	25	27
	c. Health workers	6	6
	d. Friends/Family	3	3
10	Family members/friends/ relatives donated organ:
	a. Yes	2	2
	b. No	98	98
11	Family members/friends/ relatives undergone organ transplantation:
	a. Yes	2	2
	b. No	98	98

Table 1 shows that, out of 100 subjects’ majority, 43% subjects were in the age group of 18 - 40 years. 54% subjects were males. Majority of the subjects, 84% were married. 60% subjects were belonging to Christianity. Majority of people had good educational qualifications with 39% degree holders. 32% subjects were unemployed. 70% people were having monthly income less than 10,000 rupees. Majority of sample, 94% subjects have heard about organ donation. Out of the 94% subjects who heard about organ donation, 64% had their source of information from television. Majority of subjects, 98%, didn’t have any family members, friends or relatives who donated or undergone organ transplantation.

Section B: Assessment of the level of knowledge of general population regarding organ donation:

Table 2: Frequency and percentage distribution of knowledge of general population regarding organ donation n=100

Level of knowledge	Frequency (f)	Percentage (%)
Good (≥ 75 %)	38	38%
Average (50 - 74%)	55	55%
Poor (< 50 %)	7	7%

Table 2 shows that 55% of the general population had average knowledge, 38% had good knowledge and only 7% had poor knowledge regarding organdonation.

Table 3: Mean and standard deviation of knowledge score of general population regarding organ donation n = 100

Mean	Standard Deviation
13.27	2.73

As the data follows normality, the mean and standard deviation of knowledge scores were estimated. Table 3 shows thatthe mean knowledge score was 13.27 with standard deviation 2.73

Section C: Association between level of knowledge regarding organ donation and selected demographic variables

Table 4: Association between level of knowledge regarding organ donation and selected demographic variables n=100

Sl. No.	Variable	Knowledge regarding organ donation			Chi-square Test/Fisher’s Exact Test	p value
Sl. No.	Variable	Good	Average	Poor	Chi-square Test/Fisher’s Exact Test	p value
1	Age in year:					0.001*
	a. 18-40	24	19	0	16.17
	b. 41-60	10	17	3	Fisher’s Exact Test
	c. Above 60	4	19	4
2	Gender:					0.11
	a. Male	25	26	3	3.5
	b. Female	13	29	4	Fisher’s Exact Test
3	Marital status:					0.02*
	a. Married	27	50	7	0.019
	b. Single	11	5	0	Chi-square Test
4	Religion:					0.01*
	a. Hindu	10	28	2	11.52
	b. Christian	28	27	5	Chi-square Test
5	Education:					0.01*
	a. Illiterate	0	9	3	33.52
	b. Up to 10thstd	5	21	1	Fisher’s Exact Test
	c. Plus 2/Pre degree	6	15	1
	d. Degree and above	27	10	2
6	Occupation:					0.5
	a. Unemployed	11	21	3	4.9
	b. Daily wager	6	14	2	Fisher’s Exact Test
	c. Govt.job	5	7	0
	d. Private job	16	13	2
7	Monthly income in rupees:					0.62
	a. Below Rs. 20,000/-	34	51	5	5.6
	b. Above Rs. 20,000/-	4	4	2	Fisher’s Exact Test
8	Have you heard about organ donation?					0.3
	a. Yes	37	51	6	2.2
	b. No	1	4	1	Fisher’s Exact Test
9	Family members/friends/relatives donated organs:					1
	a. Yes	1	1	0	0.52
	b. No	37	54	7	Fisher’s Exact Test
10	Family members/Friends/Relatives undergone organ transplantation:					0.58
	a. Yes	0	2	0	1.7
	b. No	38	53	7	Fisher’s Exact Test

*(Significant), P<0.05 level of significance

There was a significant association between the level of knowledge of general population regarding organ donation with demographic variables such as age, marital status, religion and education at P<0.05 level of significance.

DISCUSSION:

The present study revealed that about 55% of the general population had average knowledge, 38% had good knowledge and only 7% had poor knowledge regarding organ donation. There was a significant association between the level of knowledge of general population regarding organ donation with demographic variables such as age, marital status, religion and education at P<0.05 level of significance.

The results of the present study were consistent with the findings of a similar study conducted to assess the Knowledge, attitude and behaviour of the general population towards organ donation, among 193 randomly selected relatives of patients attending the outpatient department of a tertiary care centre in Karnataka. 52.8% of the participants had adequate knowledge and 67% had a positive attitude towards organ donation. Further, there were significant association between the level of knowledge with demographic variables such as age, gender and educational status of the participants⁵.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

Here we extend our sincere thanks to all people who participated in the study.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

The authors declare no conflict of interest in the study.

REFERENCE:

1. Dixit, Arora. Organ Donation – A Noble Act That Can Save Lives. Pharmeasy. Weblog. [Online] Available from: https:// pharmeasy.in/blog/organ-donation-a-noble-act-that-can-save-lives/#:~:text=The%20process%20of%20organ%20donation,the%20death%20of%20the%20donor. [Accessed 6-10-2020].

2. Sindhu A., Ramakrishnan T. S., Khera A., Singh G. A study to assess the knowledge of medical students regarding organ donation in a selected college of Western Maharashtra. Med J DY PatilUniv 2017;10: 349-53

3. Devi, K., Leondra, L., Poovitha, R. Knowledge, attitude and practice of organ donation in urban areas of Puducherry – A Community based study. Int J Public health Res. 2018;5(2): 82-91.

4. Darlington D., Anitha FS, Joseph C. Study of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Organ Donation Among Medical Students in a Tertiary Care Centre in South India. Cureus. 2019 Jun;11(6).

5. Vijayalakshmi P., Sunitha TS, Gandhi S., Thimmaiah R., Math SB. Knowledge, attitude and behaviour of the general population towards organ donation: an Indian perspective. The National medical journal of India. 2016 Sep 1;29(5): 257.

Received on 17.10.2020 Modified on 16.11.2020

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2021; 9(1):33-36.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2660.2021.00008.9