An institutional study of awareness of brain-death declaration among resident doctors for cadaver organ donation

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Brain death is defined as irreversible and complete cessation of all brain function including that of the brainstem. The aim of this study was to assess the level of knowledge and awareness about brain-death declaration among resident doctors. METHODS: This was an observational questionnaire-based study conducted in single institute in which 112 junior residents and 46 senior resident doctors in various medical specialities were included by universal sampling method. A prevalidated questionnaire consisting of questions related to knowledge, attitude and performance of brain-death declaration were distributed among residents as per the inclusion criteria to fill in the time limit of 30 min. Statistical tools used were mean and standard deviation, proportion and Chi-square test. RESULTS: A total 87 resident doctors consisting of 71.26% males and 28.73% females responded to the questionnaire. About 91.95% correctly defined it as complete cessation of brain activity including brainstem reflexes. Most of the resident doctors (80.45%) knew about the documentation of absence of brainstem reflexes at 6 h intervals and 64.36% were aware about positive apnoea test. When asked about whether there is legal sanction for disconnecting life support in India, 56.32% said no, and 43.67% said yes. Only 12.64% of resident doctors were aware about a panel of 4 physicians are mandatory to declare brain death in India. CONCLUSION: Awareness and attitude towards the identification of brain death and possible deceased donor organ transplantation were lacking amongst resident doctors.