The relationship of healthcare professionals' altruism level and their attitudes to organ donation

Patients waiting for transplantation create disease burden and economic burden on the healthcare system. It's important to increase organ donation to protect the healthcare system from theese burden and to improve the quality of life of patients. Study's aim is reveal the effect of altruism level of healthcare professionals on their attitudes towards organ donation. The data obtained from the surveys administered to 403 healthcare professionals working in a public hospital in Mersin were analyzed in the SPSS 22. T-test was used to compare two independent groups, One-way ANOVA was used to compare more than two groups, and Bonferroni test was used in post-hoc analysis to determine the source of the difference. The relationship between variables is determined by Pearson correlation analysis; independent variable's effect on the dependent variable was determined by Multiple Regression analysis. The altruism levels of the healthcare professionals participating were found to be high with an average of 74.61±12.67, and their organ donation attitudes were found to be at a medium level with an average of 191.49±30.97. Regression model shows, altruism has a significant impact on attitudes towards organ donation. To increase organ donation, interventions and policies should be implemented to increase altruism. The study reveales the attitude towards organ donation is lower in young people, women, those with lower education levels, those with shorter working hours, other healthcare professionals except for doctors, and units other than the emergency department. It was found that the level of altruism was lower in younger employees, those with lower education levels, those with shorter working hours, doctors and those working in intensive care services. Necessary training and incentives should be provided to increase the level of altruism of these employees. Additionally, differences in the altruism perceptions of these employees should be identified and intervention programs should be designed accordingly.