Abstract
BackgroundAdverse attitudes and insufficient knowledge about organ donation after Circulatory Determined Death (DCD) among emergency staff can have important consequences for the proper identification of potential DCD donors. This is aided by the constant application of donation after Circulatory Determined Death policies, and the relative strength of support for this type of donation. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the awareness and attitude of emergency personnel about organ donation after Circulatory Determined Death.MethodsThis descriptive study was carried out with the participation of 49 physicians and 145 nurses working in the emergency departments of educational and medical centers of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Nurses were selected by simple random sampling, and all physicians working in the emergency departments were included in the study. The questionnaire of Knowledge and Attitude regarding Organ Donation after Circulatory Determined Death designed by Rodrigue et al. was used. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, and chi-square test.ResultsMost of the nurses (62.8%) and physicians (66.7%) had a high level of knowledge about organ donation after circulatory determined death. The mean attitude score was 101.84 (SD: 9.88) out of 170 for nurses and 106.53 (SD: 11.77) for physicians. Physicians who carried organ donation cards had a more positive attitude toward organ donation after circulatory determined death.ConclusionAccording to this study findings, knowledge and attitude of the emergency staff about organ donation was both high and positive. It is recommended to devise necessary guidelines for organ donation in Iranian emergency departments to assist in the training of colleagues in organ donation ensuring no necessary measures are missed. The results of this study would support the development of guidelines for the successful introduction of DCD in Iran.
Highlights
Adverse attitudes and insufficient knowledge about organ donation after Circulatory Determined Death (DCD) among emergency staff can have important consequences for the proper identification of potential Donation after circulatory determined death (DCD) donors
The results showed that the majority of nurses, i.e., 135 (93.1%) and physicians, i.e., 46 (93.9%) answered question “Only the kidneys and liver can be recovered and successfully transplanted “correctly (Table 3)
Regarding the attitude of nurses and physicians, the results showed that they had a relatively positive attitude toward DCD, as nurses’ attitude score was 101.9 ± 84.88 and physicians’ attitude was 106.53 ± 11.77 out of a maximum score of 170 (Table 4)
Summary
Adverse attitudes and insufficient knowledge about organ donation after Circulatory Determined Death (DCD) among emergency staff can have important consequences for the proper identification of potential DCD donors. This is aided by the constant application of donation after Circulatory Determined Death policies, and the relative strength of support for this type of donation. Donation after circulatory determined death (DCD) is one of the ways used in recent years to provide an organ for transplantation from patients who have severe musculoskeletal disease, spinal cord injury, or irreversible brain injury and who do not meet criteria for brain death, dying only after the withdrawal of medical therapy judged to be futile by both the patient's relatives and the treating physicians [3]. Non-heart-beating donors are grouped in accordance to the Maastricht classification, developed in 1995 in Maastricht in the Netherlands during the first International Workshop on Non-HeartBeating donors.(1- Dead on arrival 2- Unsuccessful resuscitation 3- Awaiting cardiac death 4- Cardiac arrest while brain dead) (Table 1) [7]
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