Abstract
OBJECTIVES:Despite the contribution of awareness campaigns to the rise of organ donation rates in Brazil, younger folks are subject to few awareness actions. Records on the effect of informative campaigns at improving opinion and knowledge of undergraduates about organ donation are scarce. This study aimed to assess the effect of informative material about organ donation on changes in the trend of answers to a questionnaire compared to the answers of a control group.METHODS:Two randomized groups were compared, receiving the same standardized questionnaire. One group was supplied informative material on the subject, while the other was not. The questionnaire was sent to undergraduate students from two Brazilian universities. Statistical analysis was performed using Student's t-test, Chi-square test and multinomial regression tests. Adopted significance was 5%.RESULTS:There were 739 responses to the questionnaire. Mean age was 22 years, with a majority of women. Six of 14 questions displayed a change in the answer pattern of the experimental group compared to controls (p<0.05). Opinion on organ donation had changes in 2 of 7 analyzed questions (p<0.05). Knowledge on the subject had a shift in answer patterns in 4 of 7 questions. Regression demonstrated 3 items that were not influenced by respondents' age.CONCLUSION:There is controversy regarding the benefit of exposure to informative material. Negative changes were noted in the trust in transplantation as a safe treatment. Positive results regarding technical knowledge were obtained. Better results may be obtained by designing informative material tailored towards the student's specific concerns.
Highlights
Individuals from 18 to 35 years of age make up approximately a fifth of all registered post mortem donors in Brazil [1]
We can attribute the changes of answer patterns between the two groups to the presence of absence of the offered informative materials – which is a strong indication of their effectiveness. Data gathered from this survey study demonstrated important features of the use of the current informative materials on the field of organ donation, namely, its particular strengths and weaknesses
The changes observed between the two study groups in regards to opinion related to organ donation show a possibly grave flaw of the provided informative material: answer patterns in the experimental group were less trusting in the clinical value of transplantation compared to controls
Summary
Individuals from 18 to 35 years of age make up approximately a fifth of all registered post mortem donors in Brazil [1]. They comprise the age group that is most willing to donate organs after death [1]. Awareness campaigns about organ donation are rarely aimed at the younger public. Despite displaying a large willingness to donate in this age group – up to 89% of those inquired stated that they. Received for publication on September 12, 2018. Accepted for publication on January 8, 2019
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