Knowledge, attitude, and perception on organ donation among undergraduate medical and nursing students at a tertiary care teaching hospital in the southern part of India: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND:
Organ donation is considered to be a noble act. Medical and nursing students will be the major healthcare providers in this field in the future. Hence, their knowledge, attitude, and perception toward organ donation are essential to improve this field in the future.

OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitude, and perception on organ donation among undergraduate medical and nursing students. This study brings forth the basic understanding level of the medical and nursing students on the concept of organ donation.

METHODS:
A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among the first 4 academic years of medical and nursing students in a tertiary care teaching hospital using convenient sampling. A total of 620 students participated in this study. They were assessed using a pretested semi-structured self-administered questionnaire. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package of the Social Sciences version 19.

RESULTS:
The median score on knowledge, attitude, and perception among the medical students was 16 (14–17), 25 (23–28), and 41 (38–45), respectively, and among the nurses, the scores were 14 (12–16), 25 (22–27), and 39 (33–42), respectively. Almost half (46.9%) of the study participants knew the definition for brain death. Twenty-nine percent of the study participants knew about the existence of law toward organ donation; more than half of those participants (52.7%) mentioned few rules and regulation involved in the laws pertaining to organ donation.

CONCLUSION:
Media is the major source for information. Only less than half of the study participants were knowledgeable on the definition of brain death and existence of organ donation law. Although they are in favor of organ donation, doubts still exist among few of the participants which could be understood through further research in this field.