Information requested about organ donation in primary health care centers.

UNLABELLED

Information provided by primary care workers about organ donation significantly affects the attitude of the general public. The objective of this study was to evaluate information about donation requested by the general public in health centers in an autonomous community (region) of Spain and to find out how many workers provided relevant information.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A random sample was taken and stratified by sex, job category, and geographical location (six health areas of our autonomous regional community, 45 municipal councils), among primary care health workers in order to obtain a total of 428 respondents in 34 primary care centers. A study was undertaken of information requested and provided about organ donation and transplantation. The chi square test was applied and differences were considered significant at levels of P < .05.

RESULTS

Forty-three percent (n=185) of the workers surveyed indicated that information had been requested from them about organ donation and transplantation. This request for information was much greater from physicians than from the other types of workers (P = .015). Furthermore, 54% of primary care health workers (n=229) reported having provided information about donation, especially physicians (64%), with this being mainly favorable. Information had also been provided by nurses (59%) and ancillary staff (34%).

CONCLUSION

Information requested from primary care health workers by the general public about organ donation and transplantation is increasing when we compare it to data from previous years. Around half of primary care workers have offered information about transplantation. Therefore, it is fundamental that these workers have adequate and correct information to provide patients and families.