THE KNOWLEDGE, PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS ORGAN DONATION AMONG GENERAL POPULATION - JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA.

Worldwide, organ donation (OD) represents the last resort for millions of patients with end stage organ failure. There is a global shortage of donor organs in comparison to patients awaiting transplantation. Evaluation of Public knowledge and attitude is crucial to develop educational programs to raise the public commitment to OD. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of the general population towards OD in Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia and to analyze various factors affecting them. Self-designed questionnaires were distributed on adult Saudi population of both sexes in four malls in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and the collected data were statistically analyzed. There were a total of 375 respondents. The respondent?s attitude toward organ donation revealed that 107 (28.5%) were not ready to donate while, 24.5% were willing for organ donation and 46.9% were ready to donate only after death. Those showed positive attitude towards organ donation were ready to donate to anyone (53.1%) but, only 16.5% preferred donation to one of their family members. Fear of surgeries (21.9%), family disapproval (12.3%) and religion (5.9%) were the common reasons for the refusal of organ donation. Most of the participants suggested media (38.4%), campaigns (36.0%), and clinics (17.6%) as methods to increase awareness of the public about organ donation. It could be concluded that well-directed educational programs to improve the public knowledge and attitude towards OD are very essential. Maximum use of all possible approaches including mass media, lectures, campaigns, advertisements exhibitions and medical curriculum should be done.