Assessment of knowledge and attitude on organ donation among general public at Puducherry

Background: An organ transplant may save a person’s life, or significantly improve their health and quality of life. People who receive a new organ can expect to survive and enjoy good quality of life. In India Five lakh people die due to non-availability of organs. 1, 00,000 people die of Liver diseases. Out of which only thousand get a Liver transplant. 2, 20,000 people are waiting for Kidney transplant out of which only 15,000 get kidney transplant. Aim: The present study aims to identify the level of knowledge and attitude towards organ donation. Methods: The cross sectional descriptive study conducted in 217 samples. The subjects were selected based on convenient sampling technique. Results: The level of knowledge on organ donation is out of 217 participants 193 (88.94%) of them have inadequate knowledge on organ donation, 24 (11.05%) of them have moderately adequate knowledge on organ donation and none of them have adequate knowledge on organ donation. The level of attitude on organ donation is out of 217 participants 148 (68.2%) of them have favorable attitude towards organ donation, 69 (31.8%) of them have moderately favorable attitude towards organ donation and none of them have unfavorable attitude towards organ donation. Conclusion: This study shows that <50% had inadequate level of knowledge on organ donation and >70% had favorable attitude regarding organ donation.