BRAZILIAN AND ECUADORIAN SOCIAL MEDIA USERS: A STUDY OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND BELIEFS TOWARD ORGAN DONATION

Abstract

Several studies have stated that people's attitudes towards organ donation are influenced by factors such as knowledge, education, and religion. Many people could donate if they knew about the benefits of organ donation instead of wasting it. That is the reason that this study sets out to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs toward organ donation among Brazilian and Ecuadorian Social Media Users. A cross-sectional study was conducted, assessed through a self-administered, anonymous and validated survey, and distributed through social media. Four hundred and eight individuals participated in this survey, 72 (17.6%) were Brazilian, and 336 (82.4%) Ecuadorian. The participants' ages were between 18 and 59 years old; 360 (88.2%) participants were willing to donate an organ, whereas only 300 (73.5%) agreed to give their consent to donate their deceased family member's organs (p < 0.001), and 48 (11.8%) of those people were not willing to have a donor identification (p <0.001). Concerning knowledge about brain death, 320 (78.4%) will consider that the heart will continue beating and 306 (75%) affirm that people who are brain dead will remain in a coma; 359 (88%) people received information on transplants and organ donations through television, social networks, and printed newspapers. Based on the results of this research and by analyzing them, we can conclude that there is a great willingness of the studied population to become an organ donor and to receive more information on this topic.