Knowledge, Professional Experience and Attitude Toward Organ Donation Among Health Care Professionals in Argentina: the DonAR Survey

Descripción detallada

The shortage of cadaveric organ donors for transplantation is a global problem. This fact prolongs the time on the waiting list and, therefore, the mortality, which rise to 21.15% in Argentina compared to a world average of 16%. Many reasons can explain the low procurement rate. It has been stated that the conventional ventilatory management for potential lung donors is suboptimal for lung preservation before harvest. In Argentina there is limited research regarding the attitude toward organ donation among health care professionals, knowledge of the federal organ procurement program and professional experience in diagnosing brain death and lung donor management. Knowing the Argentinian current situation will make it possible to detect possible organ shortages causes, evaluate strategies to increase the national procurement rate and to instruct the health team that assists neurocritical patients who die of brain death. So we propose the following research. The aim of this study is to gather information about knowledge, professional experience and attitude among health care professionals involved in the care of potential donors toward organ donation, procurement process and potential lung donor management nationwide. A online questionnaire was designed and distributed among health care professionals register to different scientific societies related to the care of neurocritical patients between febrary 16th and september 1st. The questionnaire consisting of 37 ítems: 6 items measuring attitudes, 6 items measuring knowledge, 16 items investigating professional experience and 9 ítems assessing demographics.