OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of the understanding of brain death in relation to organ donation in patients from the Marco School Health Center, which is linked to the Universidade do Estado do Pará. METHODS: A total of 136 patients were interviewed based on a research protocol. The interview results were subsequently analyzed with regard to the understanding of brain death and organ donation in addition to the collection of sociodemographic data. RESULTS: The majority of patients were female and were in favor of organ donation, with a mean age of 39 years being observed. Only 19.9% of the patients understood the meaning of brain death, and 85.3% believed that physicians may be mistaken in confirming the status of brain death of a patient, while 18.4% trusted the diagnosis of brain death. A statistically significant (p < 0.01) correlation was observed between the degree of confidence in the diagnosis of brain death and the person's agreement to donate his/her organs after death. CONCLUSION: The majority of the population under study did not understand the meaning of brain death and had a low degree of confidence in the diagnosis of brain death. This lack of understanding and confidence negatively influences the desire to donate organs.
Brain death; Population; Directed tissue donation; Assessment; Knowledge; Teaching, hospitals; Health centers
