Attitudes, knowledge levels and behaviors of Islamic religious officials about organ donation in Turkey: National survey study

Table 1 Demographic and sociocultural features of 2350 Islamic religious officials

Demographic features	n	%
Age (yr)
18-34	695	29.6
35-44	729	31.0
45-54	680	28.9
≥ 55	246	10.5
Height (cm)
≤ 167	201	8.6
168-173	704	30.0
174-179	840	35.7
≥ 180	605	25.8
Weight (kg)
≤ 68	370	15.8
69-74	499	21.2
75-80	814	34.6
81-86	331	14.1
≥ 87	336	14.3
Marital Status
Married	2064	87.8
Unmarried	264	11.1
Divorced	24	1.0
Children
Yes	1846	78.6
No	504	21.4
Number of children
One	201	10.9
Two	574	31.1
Three	477	25.8
Four	428	23.2
Five or More	166	9.0
Educational Level
High School	360	15.3
University (Faculty of Theology)	1478	62.9
Masters/doctorate	33	1.4
University (other faculty)	479	20.4
Smoking
Yes	258	11.0
No	2092	89.0
Chronic disease
HT	68	2.9
DM	46	2.0
COPD	20	0.9
Cancer	13	0.6
Dermatit (urticaria, eczema etc.)	34	1.4
Migraine	62	2.6
Rheumatic diseases	26	1.1

Table 2 Organ donation information of 2350 Islamic religious officials

	n	%
Have you donated your organs?
Yes	6	0.3
No	2344	99.7
Are you willing to donate your organs in future?
Yes	111	4.7
No	1767	75.4
Undecided	235	10.0
No idea/no sure	231	9.8
Do you know how to donate your organs?
Yes	629	33.5
No	963	41
Partially	758	32.3
What are your reasons to refuse organ donation?
Familial and social causes	184	7.8
Body integrity can deteriorated after death	182	7.7
Health problems	30	1.3
Religious beliefs	516	22.0
Distrust against health institutions	94	4.0
My organs might get into the hands of the mafia	68	2.9
News in media (social, internet, verbal, written)	50	2.1
I have many fears	41	1.7
I have never considered organ donation	199	8.5
No enough knowledge about organ donation	214	9.1
No specific reason	1064	45.4
Do you have adequate informations about organ donation?
Yes	788	33.5
No	1562	66.5
What are your main sources of informations on organ donation?
Television programs	248	31.5
Daily newspaper	115	14.6
Internet platform	169	21.5
Radio broadcasts	15	1.9
Books/magazines	50	6.4
Healthcare professionals	159	20.2
Social media (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter etc.)	69	8.8
Family/relatives/friends	73	9,3
During education	96	12.2
In-service training/courses	263	33.5
Conference, seminar, meeting	41	5.2
Would you like to get information about organ donation?
Yes	857	36.5
No	909	38.7
No need/enough idea	421	17.9
No idea/no sure	163	6.9
Which is the most ideal type of organ transplantation?
Living donor	854	36.3
Deceased donor	976	41.5
No idea/no sure	520	22.1

Table 3 Viewpoints of religious officials on organ donation and organ transplantation

	Yes (%)	No (%)	No idea / no sure (%)
Did any of your relatives donated their organs?	26 (1.1)	1954 (83.1)	370 (15.7)
Did any of your relatives underwent transplantation?	24 (1.0)	2219 (94.4)	107 (4.6)
Would you give consent to organ donation of the relatives?	1243 (52.9)	610 (26.0)	497 (21.1)
Willing to donate your organs to a relatives when it is necessary?	1882 (80.1)	294 (12.5)	174 (7.4)
Would you accept organ transplantation if it is necessary?	1917 (81.6)	195 (8.3)	238 (10.1)
Do you believe organ donation as a necessary for humanity?	1967 (83.7)	212 (9.0)	171 (7.3)
Is organ donation appropriate for religious terms?	1421 (60.5)	534 (22.7)	395 (16.8)
Are you exposed to questions about organ donation?	961 (40.9)	617 (26.3)	772 (32.9)
Did you preach or sermon organ donation?	1293 (55.0)	682 (29.0)	375 (16.0)
Do religious leaders' views affect your donation perspective?	966 (41.1)	1219 (51.9)	165 (7.0)
Which organs and tissues may be suitable for transplantation?
Kidney	2304 (98.1)	22 (0.9)	24 (1.0)
Liver	2121 (90.3)	93 (4.0)	136 (5.8)
Bone morrow	2031 (86.4)	71 (3.0)	248 (10.6)
Heart	2004 (85.3)	141 (6.0)	205 (8.7)
Cornea	1741 (74.1)	165 (7.0)	444 (18.9)
Skin grafting	1201 (51.1)	719 (30.6)	430 (18.3)
Lung	1099 (46.8)	507 (21.6)	744 (31.7)
Bone	755 (32.1)	951 (40.5)	644 (27.4)
Small bowel	675 (28.7)	524 (22.3)	1151 (49.0)
Pancreas	594 (25.3)	611 (26.0)	1145 (48.7)
Nerve	471 (20.0)	1210 (51.5)	699 (28.5)

Table 4 Viewpoints of religious officials on organ donation by educational levels

	High school	Theology faculty	Masters/ Doctorate	Other faculty	P value
Do you know how to donate your organs?
Yes	36 (10.6)	448 (30.3)	20 (60.6)	123 (25.7)	< 0.001a
No	185 (51.4)	587 (39.7)	8 (24.2)	183 (38.2)
Partially	137 (38.1)	443 (30.0)	5 (15.2)	173 (36.1)
Do you have adequate informations about organ donation?
Yes	71 (19.7)	521 (35.3)	24 (72.7)	172 (35.9)	< 0.001b
No	289(80.3)	957 (64.7)	9 (27.3)	307 (64.1)
Are you willing to donate your organs in future?
Yes	14 (3.9)	47 (3.2)	9 (27.2)	41 (8.6)	< 0.001b
No	274 (76.1)	1140 (77.3)	9 (27.2)	344 (72.1)
Undecided	37 (10.3)	135 (9.2)	14 (42.4)	49 (10.3)
No idea/no sure	35 (9.7)	153 (10.4)	1 (3.0)	43 (9.0)
Would you like to get information about organ donation?
Yes	156 (43.3)	515 (34.8)	9 (27.3)	177 (37.0)	0.001c
No	140 (38.9)	582 (39.4)	9 (27.3)	178 (37.2)
No need/enough idea	39 (10.8)	278 (18.8)	13 (39.4)	91 (19.0)
No idea/no sure	25 (6.9)	103 (7.0)	2 (6.1)	33 (6.9)
Do you believe organ donation as a necessary for humanity?
Yes	304 (84.4)	1232 (83.4)	29 (87.9)	402 (83.9)	0.045d
No	26 (7.2)	128 (8.7)	2 (6.1)	56 (11.7)
No idea/no sure	30 (8.3)	118 (8.0)	2 (6.1)	21 (4.4)
Would you accept organ transplantation if it is necessary?
Yes	293 (81.4)	1212 (82.0)	26 (78.8)	386 (80.6)	0.706
No	25 (6.9)	123 (8.3)	2 (6.1)	45 (9.4)
No idea/no sure	42 (11.7)	143 (9.7)	5(15.2)	48 (10.0)
Are you exposed to questions about organ donation?
Yes	140 (38.9)	609 (41.2)	16 (48.5)	196 (40.9)	0.446
No	96 (26.7)	372 (25.2)	8 (24.2)	141 (29.4)
Rarely	124 (34.4)	497 (33.6)	9 (27.3)	142 (29.6)
Did you preach or sermon about organ donation?
Yes	182 (50.6)	830 (56.2)	24 (72.7)	257 (53.7)	0.176
No	116 (32.2)	412 (27.9)	6 (18.2)	148 (30.9)
I don't remember	62 (17.2)	236 (16.0)	3 (9.1)	74 (15.4)

^aAll groups were different.

^bMasters/doctorate group was different from other groups.

^cHigh school was different from other groups.

^dOther faculty was different from other groups.

Table 5 Viewpoints of religious officials on organ donation by age groups

	18-34 (%)	35-44 (%)	45-54 (%)	≥ 55 (%)	P value
Do you know how to donate your organs?
Yes	243 (35.0)	247 (33.9)	118 (17.4)	21 (8.5)	< 0.001a
No	244 (35.1)	293 (40.2)	299 (44.0)	127 (51.6)
Partially	208 (27.4)	189 (25.9)	263 (38.7)	98 (39.8)
Do you have adequate informations about organ donation?
Yes	284 (40.9)	283 (38.8)	187 (27.5)	34 (13.8)	< 0.001
No	411 (59.1)	446 (61.2)	493 (72.5)	212 (86.2)
Are you willing to donate your organs in future?
Yes	32 (4.6)	48 (6.6)	26 (3.8)	5 (2.0)	0.101
No	526 (75.7)	538 (74.1)	516 (76.1)	187 (76.3)
Undecided	70 (10.1)	62 (8.5)	73 (10.8)	30 (12.2)
No idea/no sure	67 (9.6)	78 (10.7)	63 (9.3)	23 (9.4)
Would you like to get information about organ donation?
Yes	217 (31.2)	251 (34.4)	275 (40.4)	114 (46.3)	< 0.001b
No	274 (39.4)	280 (38.4)	259 (38.1)	96 (39.0)
No need/enough idea	153 (22.0)	146 (20.0)	98 (14.4)	24 (9.8)
No idea/no sure	51 (7.3)	52 (7.1)	48 (7.1)	12 (4.9)
Do you believe organ donation as a necessary for humanity?
Yes	582 (83.7)	606 (83.1)	570 (83.8)	209 (85.0)	0.994
No	63 (9.1)	69 (9.5)	61 (9.0)	19 (7.7)
No idea/no sure	50 (7.2)	54 (7.4)	49 (7.2)	18 (7.3)
Would you accept organ transplantation if it is necessary?
Yes	564 (81.2)	606 (83.1)	542 (79.7)	205 (83.3)	0.385
No	60 (8.6)	62 (8.5)	55 (8.1)	18 (7.3)
No idea/no sure	71 (10.2)	61 (8.4)	83 (12.2)	23 (9.3)
Are you exposed to questions about organ donation?
Yes	272 (39.1)	310 (42.5)	285 (41.9)	94 (38.2)	0.354
No	185 (26.6)	198 (27.2)	176 (25.9)	58 (23.6)
Rarely	238 (34.2)	221 (30.3)	219 (32.2)	94 (38.2)
Did you preach or sermon about organ donation?
Yes	360 (51.8)	432 (59.3)	379 (55.7)	122 (49.6)	0.024c
No	219 (31.5)	186 (25.5)	189 (27.8)	88 (35.8)
I don't remember	116 (16.7)	111 (15.2)	112 (16.5)	36 (14.6)

^a45-54 and ≥ 55 groups were different from other groups.

^b45-54 and ≥ 55 groups were different from other groups.

^c35-44 group was different from other groups.