Knowledge and attitude of organ donation in the Eastern region of Saudi Arabia and the influence of social media campaigns: a cross-sectional study

Previous studies showed organ donation to be less common in Arabic countries, and since there are not many studies exploring the perception toward organ donation, especially in the Eastern region of Saudi Arabia, this study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and influence of social media campaigns on the willingness of organ donation. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2021 and April 2022 among social media users through an Arabic online survey exploring the population’s knowledge and attitude regarding organ donation and their willingness to donate. A total of 443 Saudi residents participated in the survey, with 376 of them meeting the required criteria. RESULTS: In all, 85% of participants of the study’s calculated response rate were eligible to be included. One hundred ninety-eight of them (52.7%) were female, with age ranges between 18 and 29 years old (76.9%). The majority of the participants (63%) showed unwillingness to donate organs, with the highest rate among males (70.2%), aged above 30 (78.1%), and employees/students out of the healthcare sectors (69.5%). Inadequate knowledge was reported as the most common reason behind their rejection. Next to fears of operation and losing life, and the desire to donate to relatives only. Almost half of the participants (51.6%) agreed on the effect of social media on their behavior toward organ donation, with 187 of them (96.4%) referring to it as a positive effect which was significantly associated with the willingness to donate organs (P=0.006). CONCLUSION: The study results showed that most of the participants have neither proper knowledge nor willingness toward organ donation. Therefore, more strategies could be developed to increase the rate of donation in the Eastern region.