Pedro C Emem-Chioma^1,, Hope I Bell-Gam²

Organ transplantation is generally an effective therapy for end-stage organ failure and kidney transplantation is generally accepted as the most efficient and cost-effective treatment for ESRD. One of the major challenges facing organ transplantation practice today is the shortage of organs for transplantation. Lack of adequate knowledge amongst the public and the healthcare professionals concerning organ donation, transplantation and outcomes of successful transplants may impact negatively on organ donation rate. Given the increasing number of transplants in Nigeria, there is therefore the need to determine the level of awareness, knowledge of healthcare workers and medical students about organ donation and transplantation and their disposition towards organ donation and transplantation. A cross-sectional descriptive study of health workers and medical students at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital was conducted using a structured investigator administered pre-tested questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was employed using SPSS version 20.0. 286 participants responded giving a response rate of 97.9%. The mean age of the study population was 25.37±9.35 years. Males were slightly more 145 (51.8%) and highest educational attainment was tertiary for 269 (97.8%) of respondents. Most (96.1%) and 75.6% of the respondents were aware of organ donation and transplantation, respectively. The common sources of information for respondents were reading/news media (43.4%) and course of study (43.1%). Over 97% of respondents had correct knowledge of the definition of organ donation and transplantation. Most respondents agreed that organs could be obtained from both living (99.6%) and dying (84.4%) persons and 95.7% agreed that organ donors can remain healthy after donation. A good proportion of respondents (79.1%) expressed willingness to donate an organ, mostly for altruistic reasons; only 2.8% would be motivated by financial or material gains and 92.% would encourage organ donation. Less than half (44.5%) of the respondents said their preferred organ recipient would be a brother, followed by spouse (21.5%) and sister (21.1%). The level of awareness and knowledge of organ donation and transplantation in this study population is very high and is matched by a very good attitude and willingness to donate an organ. This is very encouraging considering the important role healthcare workers play in public health education.

organ donation, transplantation, awareness, knowledge, willingness to donate