Socio-personal profile of teenagers opposed to organ donation

Abstract

Background. The teenage population has a more favourable attitude towards organ donation than other population groups. Teenagers represent the future of the community and their opinion directly affects other family members and friends. Therefore, teenagers who are in favour of donation become promoters of organ donation in their area of influence. Our aim was to determine the opinion and fears of the teenage population regarding organ donation in order to define the profile of the subgroup, which is opposed to donation. Methods. We used a random stratified sample according to gender and geographical location of 15-19-year-old adolescents. The attitude towards organ donation was assessed using the questionnaire on psychosocial aspects of donation. The variables were grouped into socio-personal, donation awareness, social interaction, pro-social activities and attitude towards the body. Data were analysed by descriptive statistics, the χ2 test, Student's t-test and a logistic regression analysis. Results. Seventy-three per cent of teenagers have a favourable attitude towards organ donation. Twenty-seven per cent are undecided or have negative attitudes; the main reason given is fear of apparent death (48%). Variables with statistical significance, which are against donation, are a low level of education (P=0.0456), no previous experience with organ donation (P=0.0254), no knowledge of the brain death concept (P=0.0054) and refusal to accept cadaver manipulation (P=0.0037). Conclusion. The profile of the teenager who is opposed to organ donation is one who has only primary schooling or who left school early, is not engaged in pro-social activities, rejects cadaver manipulation and has no knowledge of the brain death concept. © ERA-EDTA 2004; all rights reserved.