Knowledge, awareness and attitude towards organ donation among undergraduate medical students of Haryana

Abstract

The knowledge and attitude of society toward organ donation is far from satisfactory even among the educated sections. Since medical  students are the future doctors of the country, their optimistic attitude and elevated knowledge can build a constructive environment  and encourage organ donation. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out on undergraduate medical students of a  Government Medical College of Southern Haryana. A questionnaire was adopted to know the knowledge, awareness and attitude of  medical students toward organ donation. The data obtained from answer sheet was evaluated and incorporated on Microsoft Excel  sheet, and descriptive analysis in terms of mean, standard deviation and percentage was carried out. A total of 249 medical students  comprising of with 185 males and 64 females took part in the study. A steady increase in awareness of organ donation was seen from  81.08% to 86.07% from 1st MBBS to 3rd MBBS years of education. Television was found to be the most effective source of awareness  (70.27%) of organ donation for 1st MBBS students while medical college was the maximum source (78.48%) of awareness for 3rd  rd MBBS medical students. 70.88% 3 year medical students expressed their willingness to be an organ donor, and the majority of them  are willing to donate for their family members as compared to a friend or unknown person. More emphasis on the topic of organ  donation in the medical curriculum should be given. This will help to fill the gaps and lack of knowledge regarding organ donation and  issues related therewith.