Abstract
The aim of this study is to determine the attitudes and behaviors of religious scholars regarding organ donation and transplantation. In this study, 540 officials working in the Department of Religious Affairs in Kayseri, Turkey, were included. Overall, 86.6% response rate (n = 468) was achieved. Although a majority of the officials of religion in this study stated that they believed in the importance of organ donation (90.8%), the rate of considering donation (57.9%) and the donation rate (1.1%) were found to be substantially low. There is a difference between the employment status and willingness to donate organs. The rate of willingness to donate was significantly high in men than women. And also was high in imams and preachers. Regarding the sources of information, the majority of the respondents (70.0%) cited mass media. Overall, 15.3% cited school education and 42.0% religious publications. The most common question (83.1%) that was asked was “whether or not organ donation was suitable for Muslim religious”. Our study revealed that although the research groups have positive ideas about organ donation and transplantation, their role was low in informing and motivating people about organ donation and transplantation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akgün, H. S., Bilgin, N., Tokalak, I., Kut, A., & Haberal, M. (2003). Organ donation: A cross-sectional survey of the knowledge and personal views of Turkish health care professionals. Transplantation Proceedings, 35(4), 1273–1275.
Alghanim, S. A. (2010). Knowledge and attitudes toward organ donation: A community-based study comparing rural and urban populations. Saudi Journal of Kidney Diseases and Transplantation, 21(1), 23–30.
Bilgel, H., Sadikoglu, G., Goktas, O., & Bilgel, N. (2004). A survey of the public attitudes towards organ donation in a Turkish community and of the changes that have taken place in the last 12 years. Transplant International, 17(3), 126–130.
Çolak, M., Ersoy, K., Haberal, M., Gürdamar, D., & Gerçek, O. (2008). A household study to determine attitudes and beliefs related to organ transplantation and donation: A pilot study in Yapracik Village, Ankara, Turkey. Transplantation Proceedings, 40(1), 29–33.
Dontlu, A. Ç. (2004). Ethical, religious and legal aspects of organ donation and transplantation. Dialysis Transplantation and Burns, 15(2), 69–76.
Düzenli, Y. (2005). Organ transplantation on basis of Islamic resources. Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Medical Ethics, 13, 125–130.
El-Shahat, Y. I. (1999). Islamic viewpoint of organ transplantation. Transplantation Proceedings, 31(8), 3271–3274.
Golmakani, M. M., Niknam, M. H., & Hedayat, K. M. (2005). Transplantation ethics from the Islamic point of view. Medical Science Monitor, 11(4), 105–109.
Goz, F., Goz, M., & Erkan, M. (2006). Knowledge and attitudes of medical, nursing, dentistry and health technician students towards organ donation: A pilot study. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 15(11), 1371–1375.
Haberal, M. A. (2004). Living donor kidney transplantation: How far should we go? Urology Journal, 1(3), 148–156.
Ilyas, M., Alam, M., & Ahmad, H. (2009). The Islamic perspective of organ donation in Pakistan. Saudi Journal of Kidney Diseases and Transplantation, 20(1), 154–156.
Keçecioglu, N., Tuncer, M., Yücetin, L., Akaydin, M., & Yakupoglu, G. (2000). Attitudes of religious people in Turkey regarding organ donation and transplantation. Transplantation Proceedings, 32(3), 629–630.
Naçar, M., Çetinkaya, F., Baykan, Z., & Poyrazoglu, S. (2009). Attitudes and behaviours of students from the faculty of theology regarding organ donation: A study from Turkey. Transplantation Proceedings, 41(10), 4057–4061.
Naçar, M., Çetinkaya, F., Kanyılmaz, D., Tokgöz, B., & Utas, C. (2001). The attitudes of medical students to organ donation. Official Journal of the Turkish Society of Nephrology, 10(2), 123–128.
Ozer, A., Ekerbicer, H. C., Celik, M., & Nacar, M. (2010). Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of officials of religion about organ donation in Kahramanmaras, an eastern Mediterranean city of Turkey. Transplantation Proceedings, 42(9), 3363–3367.
Rady, M. Y., & Verheijde, J. L. (2009). Islam and end-of-life organ donation. Asking the right questions. Saudi Medical Journal, 30(7), 882–886.
Shaheen, F. A. (2009). Organ donation in the Middle East countries. Ethnicity and Disease, 19(1 Suppl 1), 16–17.
Simpkin, A. L., Robertson, L. C., Barber, V. S., & Young, J. D. (2009). Modifiable factors influencing relatives’ decision to offer organ donation: Systematic review. British Medical Journal, 21, 338.
Stephenson, M. T., Morgan, S. E., Roberts-Perez, S. D., Harrison, T., Afifi, W., & Long, S. D. (2008). The role of religiosity, religious norms, subjective norms, and bodily integrity in signing an organ donor card. Health Communication, 23(5), 436–447.
Topbas, M., Can, G., Can, M. A., & Özgün, S. (2005). Outmoded attitudes toward organ donation among Turkish health care professionals. Transplantation Proceedings, 37(5), 1998–2000.
Yasar, M., Oður, R., Uçar, M., Göçgeldi, E., Yaren, H., Tekbaº, Ö. F., et al. (2008). Attitudes of last grade students of a vocational school of health about donation and related factors with their attitudes. Genel Týp Derg, 18(1), 33–37.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Güden, E., Çetinkaya, F. & Naçar, M. Attitudes and Behaviors Regarding Organ Donation: a Study on Officials of Religion in Turkey. J Relig Health 52, 439–449 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-011-9490-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-011-9490-8