Knowledge and opinions about organ donation and transplantation among Vietnamese Americans in Seattle, Washington: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND

Racial/ethnic minorities comprise almost 50% of registrants on national waiting lists for organ transplantation in the USA. As the list continues to expand, organ shortage becomes a bigger problem. Increasing donation rates especially among racial minority groups would lower the waiting times for these groups.

PURPOSE

Asian Americans are among the fastest growing and most diverse ethnic group in the USA, but research on their knowledge or opinions about organ donation is rare.

POPULATION

A non-random sample of 350 Vietnamese American church attendees and students attending a major university in Seattle (Washington), was drawn.

METHODS

A self-administered 39-item knowledge/opinion-based survey was conducted during June to August 2003.

RESULTS

Of 278 respondents (a 79.7% response rate), 69.1% knew blood-type made a difference in donation (p = 0.000), 61.6% knew transplant survival rates were high (p = 0.000), and 75.9% knew transplants could come from living donors (p = 0.000). But 53.4% also thought organs could be sold for money in the USA (p = 0.000), and 49.8% thought more people died of auto accidents and gunshot wounds than from heart disease (p = 0.000). Those who answered correctly to more than 50% of the knowledge questions were also more likely to favor donation (p = 0.007).

CONCLUSION

We found among this study population that having correct knowledge about organ donation related to a willingness to donate.