AUTHOR: Beatriz Domínguez-Gil, María J. Martín, María O. Valentín, Bárbara Scandroglio, Elisabeth Coll, Jorge S. López, Jose M. Martínez, Blanca Miranda, Rafael Matesanz
KEYWORDS: Tissue and organ procurement, attitude, transplantation
ABSTRACT: Organ donation refusals have progressively decreased in Spain from 25% in 1993 to 15.2% in 2006. Our aim was to analyse whether the general population’s attitude towards donation in Spain had changed substantially during this period of time.
A survey was conducted among a representative sample of the population at three different periods, in 1993 (n=1,288), 1999 (n=990) and 2006 (n=1,126), using a specifically designed questionnaire.
No significant changes were observed regarding the population’s attitude towards donation of their own organs. Whereas in 1993, 64.5% were willing to become a donor or had a donor card, the corresponding values were 63.9% and 66.5%
in 1999 and 2006, respectively. Although there was a significant increase in those who had spoken about donation within the family circle (49.9% in 1999 vs. 57.4% in 2006, p<0.05), there was no significant increase in the degree to which people had communicated their wishes regarding donation (41% vs. 40.7%).
During a thirteen-year period in Spain there have been no substantial changes in the population’s general attitude towards donation. This also applies to the amount of communication on that attitude. An improvement in the technique for approaching the relatives may have been decisive for the observed decrease in the rate of refusals.
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