INTENTION OF ORGAN DONATION AMONG HEALTH STUDENTS IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF JARU

Abstract

Introduction: Brazil stands out as the second country that performs the most organ transplant surgeries (approximately 19,000 procedures performed until August 2023), second only to the United States, according to the Ministry of Health. Although the number of transplants performed is high when compared to other world averages, the huge waiting list for a compatible donor is still a challenge to be overcome. Objectives: This article aims to describe the rates of intention to donate organs among health students in the city of Jaru, analyze which factors impact this decision, as well as assess the knowledge of academics on the subject. Material and Methods: 271 students were interviewed from the Nursing, Medicine, Pharmacy, Psychology and Dentistry courses at Faculdade FIMCA Unicentro and Veterinary Medicine at Instituto Federal de Rondônia (IFRO campus Jaru), who volunteered to answer a 14-question questionnaire. After the survey was applied, the data were tabulated and analyzed. Results/development and discussion: It was observed that 55.4% of the interviewees intend to donate their organs after death and 31.4% have not yet decided. Furthermore, regarding their knowledge on the subject, 8.5% evaluated it as “excellent”, 26.2% as “good”, 50.6% as “average”, 12.2% as “poor” and 2.6% as “terrible”. Furthermore, 33.9% do not trust the diagnosis of brain death, and only 53.9% know the risks involved in living organ transplantation. Conclusion: Based on the data obtained, it is concluded that intervention is necessary to improve students’ knowledge on the subject, in order to increase adherence rates to the practice capable of saving and improving the quality of life of eligible patients.