Prevalence of socio-demographic and behavioral factors about organ donation in Qatar: A household survey

Abstract

Background: A single organ and tissue donor can serve and save eight-fold lives, but availability of organ donors is scarce, posing a grim situation for end-stage organ failure worldwide. Knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs toward organ donation can help policymakers develop strategies to address the challenges facing organ donation and transplantation in Qatar. Aim: To assess sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and intentions regarding organ donation in the household population of Qatar. Methods: A prospective observational household survey was conducted between October and November 2016 in Qatar using a validated questionnaire. One thousand forty-four individuals aged 18 and older residing in eight municipalities in the country were enrolled in the survey. Results: Average age was 38 ± 11 years. There were 27.4% Qatari citizens and 72.6% nonQatari residents in the survey. 48.9% of the total (1044) were males. Knowledge [46% (95% C.I.: 45% − 47%)], attitude [70% (95% C.I.: 66%–74%)], behavioral beliefs [42% (95% C.I.: 39%–50%)], normative beliefs [29% (95% C.I.: 28%–30%)], control beliefs [–27% (95% C.I.: − 24% to − 30%)] and intentions towards organ donation [29% (95% C.I.: 27%–31%)] were observed in the study. Factor analyses were able to explain 70%, 72%, 70%, and 74% variations in knowledge, attitude, beliefs, and intentions domains respectively showing adequacy of construct of the domains for organ donation. Conclusion: Most of the survey participants showed good attitude but less intention towards organ donation.