Introductions: The awareness of brain death and heart donation (HD) among the Saudi population remains limited, coupled with negative attitudes toward heart donation, resulting in a significant gap between the demand for donor hearts and the available supply. This study aimed to comprehensively understand the current perceptions, attitudes, and practices of the Saudi population regarding HD, as well as identify the obstacles. The ultimate goal was to strengthen the local donor pool.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March to May 2023, employing a self-administered internet survey. The survey collected demographic information, assessed awareness, attitudes, and practices related to HD, and was completed by 1820 participants from various regions in Saudi Arabia. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 25 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA). Chi-square test, Independent-samples t-test, one way analysis of variance test (ANOVA) and Spearman correlation coefficient was performed with the significance level set at p < 0.05.

Results: A significant portion of the population (out of 1820 participants) lacked organ donation cards and were uncertain about the registration process. Participants displayed a moderate level of knowledge about HD, with roughly half holding unfavorable attitudes toward HD. A considerable percentage of participants 62.0% were unwilling to register as heart donors, but a majority (79.9%) were willing to contribute by disseminating information about HD. The study identified significant associations between knowledge scores and several factors, including age (p = 0.002), career (p = 0.000), possession of an organ donation card (p = 0.000), and a history of transplantation or organ donation among relatives (p = 0.000). A significant relationship was observed between attitude scores and several factors, including career (p = 0.001), Saudi region (p = 0.025), possession of an organ donation card (p = 0.000), and a history of transplantation or organ donation among relatives (p = 0.000).

Conclusion: The study highlights the urgent need for increased awareness to bolster the number of local heart donors. The involvement of healthcare professionals and social campaigns is essential to enhance public knowledge and potentially boost the willingness of individuals to become donors.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10727133PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.37616/2212-5043.1357DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

organ donation
20
heart donation
8
saudi population
8
attitudes practices
8
1820 participants
8
heart donors
8
scores factors
8
factors including
8
possession organ
8
donation card
8

Similar Publications

Long-term, immunosuppression-free allograft survival has been induced in human and nonhuman primate (NHP) kidney recipients after nonmyeloablative conditioning and donor bone marrow transplantation (DBMT), resulting in transient mixed hematopoietic chimerism. However, the same strategy has consistently failed in NHP heart transplant recipients. Here, we investigated whether long-term heart allograft survival could be achieved by cotransplanting kidneys from the same donor.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: In the Netherlands, it is possible for patients to donate organs after having received euthanasia. In many cases of organ donation after euthanasia (ODE), tissues, as well as the liver, heart, kidneys, lungs, and pancreas, can be donated. The procedure for ODE is described in the national guideline for organ donation after euthanasia by the Dutch Transplant Foundation (NTS).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Erdheim Chester Disease with Calvarial Involvement: A rare case of Histiocytosis.

Turk Neurosurg

March 2024

SBÜ Gaziosmanpaşa Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi.

Erdheim-Chester Disease is a rare systemic xanthogranulomatous infiltrating disease, characterized by lipid-laden histiocytes accumulating in various organs and almost always in bones. Etiology of the disease is still unknown. It may involve various organs and systems, such as musculoskeletal, cardiac, pulmonary, renal, gastrointestinal and central nervous system (CNS) as well as the skin.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

An oral microbiota-based deep neural network model for risk stratification and prognosis prediction in gastric cancer.

J Oral Microbiol

January 2025

Integrative Microecology Clinical Center, Shenzhen Clinical Research Center for Digestive Disease, Shenzhen Technology Research Center of Gut Microbiota Transplantation, The Clinical Innovation & Research Center, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Viral Oncology, Department of Clinical Nutrition, Shenzhen Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, China.

Background: This study aims to develop an oral microbiota-based model for gastric cancer (GC) risk stratification and prognosis prediction.

Methods: Oral microbial markers for GC prognosis and risk stratification were identified from 99 GC patients, and their predictive potential was validated on an external dataset of 111 GC patients. The identified bacterial markers were used to construct a Deep Neural Network (DNN) model, a Random Forest (RF) model, and a Support Vector Machine (SVM) model for predicting GC prognosis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Transplant oncology and anti-cancer immunosuppressants.

Front Immunol

January 2025

Tianjin Organ Transplantation Research Center, Tianjin First Central Hospital, Nankai University School of Medicine, Tianjin, China.

Organ transplantation is a life-saving intervention that enhances the quality of life for patients with end-stage organ failure. However, long-term immunosuppressive therapy is required to prevent allogeneic graft rejection, which inadvertently elevates the risk of post-transplant malignancies, especially for liver transplant recipients with a prior history of liver cancer. In response, the emerging field of transplant oncology integrates principles from oncology and immunology to improve outcomes for patients at high risk of tumor occurrence or recurrence following transplantation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!