Better Health For All

Dr. Alexander Woodman and Dr. Besher Al Attar at Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation and King Salman Center for Kidney Diseases

Organ donation is an act of mercy, benevolence, altruism, and love for humanity. Since the application of bioethical principles is an integral part of the decision-making process associated with organ donation, knowledge, personal attitudes, social structure, cultural practices about organ donation are essential factors influencing people’s decisions. Consequently, one of the primary responsibilities of healthcare providers is to understand and inform patients, donors, and recipients about what principles support the proposed decision to donate or receive organs. It is equally important to respect the ethical rules followed in each region, country, and ethnic group. 

Saudi medical students and organ donation 

Organ donation is an integral part of medical ethics in Saudi Arabia, which follows the Islamic bioethics, a system of moral assessment designed to identify, analyze and address ethical issues that arise in medical practice and research, based on Islamic moral and legislative sources.

The development of organ donation laws and legislation has been accompanied by numerous social, legal, and ethical debates. The general public of Saudi Arabia is usually skeptical about such a development in science and tends to show significant ambivalence in their attitude. These notions prompted Dr. Alexander Woodman and his colleagues to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours in relation to organ donation and transplantation among medical students as future healthcare providers. The study conducted in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom resulted in a number of emerging patterns that are essential to be shared with the global community of health science and educators.

The most thought-provoking findings related to knowledge, with less than a third of medical students having adequate knowledge, with the source of knowledge being mostly social media or television. Essentially, the fifth and sixth-year students had higher average knowledge scores. This pattern was truly emerging since the comparison showed that earlier studies resulted in better knowledge among Saudi medical students. Does this mean that the new generation is less interested in organ donation and transplantation? To answer “yes” to this question would be an imprecise undertaking and too persuasive a statement since the patterns of attitude were quite opposite.

The majority of students had a positive attitude towards organ donation and transplantation, with the reasons for organ/tissue donation being mainly helping others (88.8%) and empathy (59.8%). At the same time, attitudes vary depending on specific socio-demographic factors such as gender, age, and educational level. Thus, women had more positive attitudes compared to men, with younger participants (18-20 years old) being more positive compared to 27-29 years old. The latter had a particular emerging pattern, showing that while more experienced students (year of study) had better knowledge, their attitudes were less positive. 

The correlation between knowledge-attitude, knowledge-practice, and attitude-practice in this study contradicted the relationship between knowledge-attitude and practice. Does this study allow to conclude that insufficient knowledge can lead to a positive attitude and better knowledge to a negative one? To answer this question, a health education campaign should be carried out among healthcare providers, students, and the general public to address the gap between the knowledge-attitude-practice of organ donation and transplantation.

The findings of research have been published in Transplantation Proceedings, ELSEVIER publishing and can be found at https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1fZJ~9MbWadC~.

Dr. Alexander Woodman and Dr. Besher Al Attar