Willingness to Become Deceased Organ Donors among Post‑graduate Students in Selected Colleges in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Abstract

Introduction: Globally, there is a discrepancy between demand and availability of organs for transplantation. Transplantation is done from a living donor as well as a brain-dead/deceased donor. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) encourages deceased donor transplantation, since there is no risk to the donor. Although, the Transplant Act of Nepal 2016 opened the doors for deceased donor organ transplantation, the rate of transplantation from deceased donors is very low. Thus, this study assesses factors associated with willingness for deceased organ donation among post-graduate students of law, medicine, and mass communication streams. Methods: A total of 9 colleges, 3 from each specialty were selected via lottery method. The total sample size calculated was 440. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. 170, 140 and 130 forms were distributed in law, medicine and mass communication respectively via convenient sampling. Multivariate analysis among the variables that had p-value <0.05 in bivariate analysis was carried out to find out the strongest predictors of willingness to be a deceased organ donor. Results: In all, 53.2% were willing to become deceased organ donors. Family permission having someone in family with chronic disease, having attended any conference or general talk on organ donation, knowing a live organ donor, and knowing that body will not be left disfigured after organ extraction were found to be the strongest predictors for willingness to be deceased organ donor. Lack of awareness was reported as the main barrier. Conclusion: There is a need for extensive awareness programs and new strategies to motivate individuals and family members for organ donation.