Public’s Attitude toward Organ Donation in Egypt: A Conceptual and Social Framework

It is now well established that organ donation (OD) in Egypt gains utmost official support both from
Islamic and Christian authorities. Yet, some social and behavioral obstacles may often obviate the full
benefit of cadaver donors.
Aim: To identify and analyze determinants influencing the public’s awareness and attitude toward
organ donation (OD) in Egyptian population.
Methods: At an outpatient setting of Qena University hospital (QUH), Qena, Egypt, care seekers
were interviewed.
Results: Participants mean age was 42.9±8.17y years. More than half (56%) of participants are
aware of the presence of OD programs in Egypt. However such awareness was not significant as to
improve OD knowledge score. Otherwise, the same score significantly increased by educational level
[F(df 3, 812= 3.61, p=0.0002]. Importantly too, the participants’ OD attitude score significantly
improved by education [F(df 3, 805) = 4.52, p=0.038]. Media was most accessible as an individual
source of information about OD (16.5%), and the knowledge score varied by source of OD information
(14.6% with Internet source, 13.3±3 healthcare source, 5.6±1.9 friends source, 38% more than one
source) [F(df 6, 809)= 3.10, p=0.0016]. Only 43.6% of participants were willing to donate an organ
after death. Conceptualizing OD as an anti-religious behavior was reported by 16.9% of participants.
Conclusion: The current knowledge fabric toward OD among Egyptian bears a mix of negative and
positive potentials. Improving OD knowledge standard assures propagating positive attitude toward
OD and hence enhanced survival opportunities for organ failure victims.