Organ Donation: Willingness, Attitude, and Knowledge among General Population of Western India – A Cross-sectional Study

Background: The issue of organ donation is complex and multifactorial involving ethical, legal, medical, organizational, and societal factors. There is a wide gap between the required number of donations and actual donations in India. There is a need to identify the reasons for this wide gap from the community perspective. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among relatives of patients attending the outpatient department at a tertiary care center. Data were collected using a pre-designed semi-structured questionnaire. For the assessment of knowledge, relevant questions were asked. Attitude toward organ donation was assessed using 22 items on a 5-point Likert scale. Data were entered into Excel sheet and analyzed using SPSS software. Average knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were calculated and compared with religion, gender, and other sociodemographic variables. A Chi-square test of association was applied between sociodemographic variables and their willingness to sign the donor card. P