Opinions and Attitudes towards Organ and Tissue Donation 2013

Level of knowledge and information on organ and tissue donation. Attitudes towards organ and tissue donation.

Topics: Satisfaction with one´s own health; attention to one´s own health; Trust in the German health care system; knowledge test: Knowledge of the possibilities for determining willingness to donate organs and tissue; Regulation of organ and tissue donation in Germany: By law or only by the competent transplant centres; possibility to restrict donation to certain organs and tissues; possibility to reverse the decision to donate organs and tissues; upper age limit for organ removal; placement of organs removed in Germany (only to persons living in Germany, worldwide or through Eurotransplant to countries affiliated to the network); possibility of saying goodbye to the deceased person after organ and tissue removal; prerequisite for organ and tissue removal (cardiac death, brain death or coma); meaning of the term brain death; sufficient availability of organs and tissue; waiting time for a donor kidney; probability of a well-functioning donor kidney 5 years after transplantation; legal situation regarding organ trafficking in Germany; living persons as organ donors; possibility of determining the recipient of the organ donation; existing regulation for removal of organs and tissue after death; possibility of return to a normal life for brain-dead persons; frequency of conversations among friends and acquaintances on the topic of organ and tissue donation; perception of advertisements or information on the topic of organ and tissue donation in print media, on posters, on the internet, in cinema commercials, television commercials, radio commercials, brochures or flyers; respective frequency of perception in the last six months (advertising success control) or number of different brochures or flyers seen; websites visited on the topic of organ donation (www.organspende-info.de, www.organpaten.de, www.dso.de); self-assessment of how well informed people are on the topic of organ and tissue donation; awareness of selected institutions as contacts on the topic of organ and tissue donation (Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA), German Foundation for Organ Transplantation (DSO), ´Fürs Leben´ Foundation, German Society for Tissue Transplantation, Transplant Centre, self-help associations, etc.); awareness of selected slogans on the subject of organ and tissue donation (´Organspende schenkt Leben´, ´Fürs Leben´, ´Organpate werden´, ´Das trägt man heute´, ´Richtig, Wichtig, Lebenswichtig´); perception of the slogans in newspapers or magazines, on television, on the radio, on posters, in brochures, at the doctor´s, in the pharmacy, in lectures or at events, on the Internet or by friends, acquaintances or family; perceived evaluation of organ and tissue donation; assessment of the general willingness to donate organs and tissue in Germany; attitude towards organ and tissue donation (passive acceptance); willingness to donate organs or tissue after death (active acceptance); willingness to accept a donated organ themselves; possession of an organ donor card; knowledge of the expressions of will that can be specified on the organ donor card (consent to the removal of organs and tissues without restriction, with the exception of certain organs and tissues or only for certain organs and tissues, objection in principle to the removal of organs and tissues, indication of a decision-making person); holders of an organ donor card were asked: Consented to organ removal, objected or indicated another decision person; consented to organ and tissue removal without restriction, except for certain organs and tissues or only for certain organs and tissues; organs and tissues excluded from removal by the respondent; possession of an organ donor card for more than one year; asked for organ donor card themselves or received it unsolicited; source of supply of own organ donor card; awareness of selected sources of supply (Federal Centre for Health Education, health insurance fund/health insurance, campaign of Apothekenumschau, pharmacist, doctor, hospital, self-help associations, German Foundation for Organ Transplantation, information stand, newspaper/magazine); respondents without organ donor card were asked: Planned acquisition of an organ donor card, certainty of deciding on an organ donor card within the next 12 months; received information letter from health insurance company or health insurer on organ donation; completed enclosed organ donor card or previously completed a card; personal motivation for willingness to donate organs and tissue or reasons against organ donation; communication about organ and tissue donation: preferred or potential contact person on organ and tissue donation; discussions with family and friends on organ and tissue donation; personal decision for or against organ and tissue donation communicated to family or friends; family members or friends have completed organ donor card and communicated their decision on organ and tissue donation; estimated proportion of family or friends willing to donate; ever discussed organ and tissue donation with family or friends; have already dealt with their own death; discussions with family or friends about their own death; will; expectation of being approached by doctors about organ and tissue donation in the event of brain death of a family member; living will; disposition to donate organs and tissues in the living will; experience with organ and tissue donation: Family members or friends have received an organ or tissue or donated organs and tissues after their death; respondent has received organ or tissue or is on the waiting list for a transplant; successful transplant; change of opinion on organ and tissue donation; reasons for this change of opinion; change of opinion regarding: Consent to organ and tissue removal, rejection of such removal, specific determination of which organs and tissues may be removed or which are excluded from donation; interest in information on organ and tissue donation; preferred type of information (comprehensive and factual information or exclusively through testimonials from affected persons or a combination); expectation of doctors to specifically ask about organ and tissue donation if a family member is diagnosed with brain death; assessment of organ donation regulation in other countries and personal preference: automatically organ donor without explicit objection or organ donor only after explicit consent; knowledge of the organ donation scandal; loss of trust in the German organ donation system due to manipulation of organ allocation.

Demography: sex; age (year of birth); marital status; living with a partner; household size; number of children under 18 in the household; employment status; highest level of education; religious denomination.

Additionally coded were: Survey period (start and end, survey year); respondent ID; weighting factor.