Knowledge of the Brain Death Concept Among the Puerto Rican Population Residing in Florida.

INTRODUCTION

Puerto Rican and Cuban populations constitute the largest immigrant groups in Florida. This leads to an increase in their involvement in the organ donation and transplantation process (ODT); however, there is very little understanding about their attitude toward and knowledge of related key aspects such as brain death (BD).

OBJECTIVE

Analyze knowledge of the BD concept among the Puerto Rican population residing in Florida.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The population under study is born in Puerto Rico and residing in Florida. Inclusion criteria was the population over 15 years stratified by age and sex. The assessment instrument was a validated questionnaire of attitude toward donation and organ transplantation "PCID-DTO-Ríos." A random selection of people was surveyed according to stratification. Support from immigration assistance associations in Florida was needed to locate potential respondents. Survey completion was anonymous and self-administered.

RESULTS

Of the 259 respondents, 35% (n = 90) know the BD concept and consider it the death of an individual, 44% (n = 113) do not know it, and 21% (n = 56) do not consider them death. Variables significantly related to the correct knowledge of BD are as follows: sex (P = .012); marital status (P = .043); and couple's opinion (P = .001) and religion (P < .001). In the multivariate analysis, the variables that persist as significant are being married (odds ratio [OR] = 5.231; P = .002); to know the organ donation and transplantation couple attitude as favorable (OR = 4.819; P = .001) and not being Catholic (OR = 4.090; P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Only one third of the Puerto Rican population residing in Florida knows the concept of BD and accepts it as the death of a person.