Abstract:

The importance of organ donation is increasing day by day. Considering that each individual may need organ donation in the future, it is important to be sensitive about organ donation. Thus, raising individuals’ awareness about organ donation starting from early ages becomes vital. The aim of this study was to investigate the opinions of 7th and 8th grade students about organ donation and transplantation. The sample of the study consisted of 850 students in three middle schools in urban and rural areas of Bingöl city center. The data were obtained through a questionnaire which consisted of open-ended questions. The questionnaire consisted of demographic information and opinion parts. Description statistics (percentage and frequency analysis) and content analysis were used to analyze and interpret the data. The majority of the participants (70.38%) stated that they want to donate their organs while 29.62% of them were opposed to organ donation. In depth analysis revealed that 40.83% of students want to donate their organs because of 'saving life' and 40.30% of them want to donate their organs because of 'religious factors'. On the other hand, the students who were not willing to donate their organs explained their reasons as 'disruption of body integrity' (40.87%) and 'their parents' being opposed to organ donation (37.3%). In additions, this study revealed that students were partially knowledgeable and held misconceptions about organ donation. Suggestion how to increase students' awareness about organ donation and organ transplantation is proposed.