Posthumous Organ Donation Decision: The Role of Empathy and Knowledge on the Attitude and Willingness to Donate among University Students in Pakistan

Abstract

Organ transplantation is a common procedure in many countries, but it can still be hampered by a lack of donors. Many reasons exist for people's hesitation to sign the donor card and this study explores the factors affecting posthumous organ donations motivation. The objectives of the study were to examine the role of knowledge, empathy, and attitude toward willingness to donate in posthumous organ donation decisions. We also examined whether education moderated the relationship between knowledge and attitude to donate. For this purpose, a survey was conducted among university students in public and private universities from Lahore, Pakistan. Structural Equation Modelling using the SmartPLS (3.0) was used to test the hypotheses proposed for this study. Empathy toward posthumous organ donation and the knowledge were positively related to the respondent's attitude and attitude was positively related to willingness to donate organs posthumously. The results showed that education level did not moderate the relationship between attitude and knowledge. Future research may incorporate other factors such as religious affairs and cultural values for developing a socially appropriate model.