Knowledge and Attitude of People With or Without a Medical Education Regarding Organ Donation and Transplant: A Sample From the City of Baghdad

Objectives: Organ donation is the driving force for transplant. Awareness about donation and transplant is invaluable for improved transplant services in any country. Our objective was to assess the knowledge and attitude toward organ donation and transplant among medically educated adult Iraqis versus adult Iraqis who were not medically educated, in Baghdad, Iraq. Materials and Methods: For this study, we recruited 400 Iraqi residents of Baghdad city from December 1, 2018, to March 1, 2019. We used an interviewer-adm inistered questionnaire to survey 200 health care professionals and 200 adults who lacked medical education, and then we analyzed the responses from the 2 groups. Results: The study included 165 males and 235 females (mean age 33.73 +/- 10.38 years). Most participants (60%) were aware of organ donation, and a health care provider was the main source of their knowledge. Only 11.25% were aware of Iraqi legislation that permits donation after brain death. Nearly 50% of the participants volunteered to be living donors, and 229/400 (57.25%) volunteered to donate after death. About 50% accepted the idea of organ donation as an act to save life, whomever the donor. The most important barrier was the fear of future risks to health after living donation and body disfigurement after death. There was a statistically significant difference in the knowledge and attitude scores between the 2 groups. From the study sample, 46.5% accepted the concept of incenting living donors or families of deceased donors. Conclusions: Iraqi people are moderately informed about organ donation and transplant. Medically educated people demonstrated an attitude of greater acceptance. Religion and social beliefs were not barriers to organ donation in the study sample. Regulated governmental application of incentive programs may be a useful strategy at present.