Publication:

Study to assess knowledge, attitude on organ donation among medical students in a medical college, Telangana, India

Background Organ donation rate in India is only 0.26 per million. This is mainly due to lack of knowledge about the need of organ donation. Health care professionals play a vital role in imparting positive knowledge regarding organ donation.

Methods Institutional based cross sectional study was conducted among 1st year MBBS students (n=135). Data was collected and pre and post analysis was done using a pre-validated self-administered questionnaire. Data was entered in Ms Excel and analysed using SPSS 17 software.

Results Media was found to be most common source of information regarding organ donation. 91.1% support organ donation. 78.5% have not heard about donor card. Only 34.6% have heard about jeevandan scheme. 77.8% participants has knowledge that brain death is irreversible and 65.9% students believe that there is age limit for organ donation. 87.4% has adequate knowledge that single donor can donate to multiple recipients and 95.6% students believe that organs should not be donated from persons who has cancers or HIV.

Conclusions From the data analysed it is evident that there was a significant increase in knowledge following Awareness session on organ donation. Many have a positive attitude towards organ donation.