The Impact of Contributing factors toward brain dead organ donation in saudi families

Despite the overwhelming data on organ donation, there is a worldwide shortage of donors who are willing to donate their organs for the benefit of others (Echeverri,  Gridelli, 2013; Mithra et al, 2013 ). Research shows that people in general tend to have negative attitudes towards organ donation mostly related to their misunderstanding and lack of education on the subject itself (Echeverri,Gridelli, 2013; Mithra et al, 2013; Alghanim, 2010) This shortage may be due to the ethical and cultural debate surrounding this topic. Organ donation and diagnosis of brain death through the lens of Islam appears to be another major deciding factor for many Muslims, despite the lucid clear laws and fatwa’s regarding the topic. 

This study explores the positive and negative attitudes toward organ donations of brain dead persons. It is also designed to provide a better understanding of the religious, cultural, emotional,  factors influencing family decisions regarding agreeing or disagreeing to donate their brain dead family member’s organs for persons in need for transplantations.

Data Analysis: univariate and bivariate analyses established descriptive statistics for the study sample. For the bivariate analysis we used the chi-square to examine if the joint frequencies between variables exist and whether there is a significant association between dependent and independent variables.

 The study used cross-sectional surveys, using face-to-face interviews with56 family members of brain dead persons. This data (N=56) was collected from the Saudi Center for Organs Transplantation (SCOT) in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia. The survey includes sociodemographic variables, questions on the overall general attitudes toward organ donations, awareness and knowledge of organ donation, type of decision made by the participants). It also includes 40 statements on cultural, emotional, and religious beliefs and attitudes). All statement were measured on 3-likert scale (agree, neutral, and disagree).   

Results show significant associations between: (a)  type of decision (agree/disagree)  and gender of the deceased person  (x² _(df=1)=5.17, P <.05), (b)  between type of decision and knowledge of the organ donation (X² _(df=8)=23.6, p <.05), and (c) between type of decision and the participant level of convention toward organ donation (x² _(df=2)=18.84, p.<.05) and last between the relationship  of the deceased  person and the participant (X² _(df=8)+20.21, P<.05).

Cultural and religious beliefs play important role in the decision among many of the study participants. Those beliefs are derived from the Islamic School of Jurisprudence or Fatwa (Islamic religious proclamation), the hadith (the prophet’s sayings, and the Qura’n). These attitudes and values are found to be very supportive factors toward organ donation. Therefore many of the participants were in favor of organ donation. The data also shows that there is a good awareness of activities made by the Saudi government, either by TV programs, newspapers, awareness activities, or by health care staff (physicians, nurse and hospital administration) but not by social workers.  More resources and campaigns are still needed. The study’s limitations, policy implications, and the role of social work practice in this filed are discussed.