Kaiser G M, Radünz S, Becker S, Thavarajah S, Paul A, Heuer M
Department of General, Visceral, and Transplantation Surgery, University Hospital of Essen, Essen, Germany.
Department of General, Visceral, and Transplantation Surgery, University Hospital of Essen, Essen, Germany.
Transplant Proc. 2014 Jul-Aug;46(6):2040-2. doi: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2014.06.021.
The current organ donor shortage in Germany results in the death of 1000 patients on the transplant waiting list every year. In response, a recent amendment to the German Transplant Act aiming to increase donor rates was passed. Among a number of other measures, Germans are asked to decide whether they choose to donate organs or not in the event of a brain death or whether they would like to designate someone who should decide for them in this situation. The objective of this study was to collect and evaluate data on the public's attitude toward organ donation before the expected amendment.
A survey on the subject of organ donation was conducted in 2011 among clients of a public pharmacy in a major city in the federal state North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Data regarding sex, age, health behavior, and attitude toward the amendment were collected and association organ donor card possession was analyzed.
A total of 1485 questionnaires were evaluated. Of those surveyed, only 14.1% had an organ donor card. No statistically significant associations between sex (P value .3045), age (P value .1453) and the possession of a donor card were observed. We found that 72.5% of respondents stated that they appreciated the expected amendment, and in the case of implementation, the majority would obtain an organ donor card.
The future success of transplantation medicine relies on an increase in the public's overall willingness to donate organs. Educating the public and ensuring transparency in transplantation medicine are vital to achieving higher donation rates. The new German transplantation act may be an important step to increase society's awareness and participation in organ donation.
德国目前的器官捐献者短缺导致每年有1000名移植等待名单上的患者死亡。作为回应，德国最近通过了一项旨在提高捐献率的《德国移植法案》修正案。在许多其他措施中，德国人被要求决定在脑死亡情况下是否选择捐献器官，或者是否愿意指定某人在这种情况下为他们做出决定。本研究的目的是在预期修正案之前收集和评估公众对器官捐献态度的数据。
2011年在德国北莱茵 - 威斯特法伦州一个大城市的一家公共药房的顾客中进行了一项关于器官捐献主题的调查。收集了有关性别、年龄、健康行为以及对修正案态度的数据，并分析了与持有器官捐献卡的关联。
共评估了1485份问卷。在接受调查的人中，只有14.1%持有器官捐献卡。未观察到性别（P值0.3045）、年龄（P值0.1453）与持有捐献卡之间存在统计学上的显著关联。我们发现72.5%的受访者表示他们赞赏预期的修正案，并且如果实施，大多数人会获得器官捐献卡。
移植医学未来的成功依赖于公众总体器官捐献意愿的提高。对公众进行教育并确保移植医学的透明度对于实现更高的捐献率至关重要。新的德国移植法案可能是提高社会对器官捐献的认识和参与度的重要一步。
