ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
This article is part of the Research TopicOrgan Transplantation by 2040View all 9 articles
Strategic Insights into Organ Donation: Perceptions, Attitudes, and the Impact of Disincentive Removal in current and future medical professionals
Provisionally accepted
Marco Alejandro Arizmendi-Villarreal1
Ana Cecilia Ugalde-Flores2Javier Sanchez-Maldonado2Allina Primavera Flores-Mendoza2Homero Arturo Zapata-Chavira2Gerardo Enrique Muñoz-Maldonado1Edelmiro Perez-Rodriguez2Francisco Javier Reyna-Sepulveda1,2*- 1Department of General Surgery, Hospital Universitario “Dr. Jose Eleuterio Gonzalez”, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey, Mexico
- 2Department of Transplantation, Hospital Universitario “Dr. Jose Eleuterio Gonzalez”, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey, Mexico
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Organ transplantation is a life-saving intervention for patients with end-stage organ failure, yet donation rates remain critically low in many countries. A better understanding of the medical community's perceptions and the barriers to donation, especially disincentives for donation, is crucial for improving organ procurement. We conducted a cross-sectional, observational study using a structured survey to assess knowledge, attitudes, and disincentives to organ and tissue donation among 686 participants, including medical students, residents, and healthcare personnel in northeastern Mexico. Most of the participants (81.6%) were willing to donate organs posthumously, and 72.3% expressed willingness to donate during life. However, 54.4% were unaware that the family had the final decision regarding donation. Common disincentives for living donation included concerns about long-term health impacts (23.9%), risk of chronic kidney disease (21%), and fear of death during nephrectomy (19.5%). Despite these concerns, 92% believed living donors should receive social or economic support, without perceiving this as conflicting with altruism. Although attitudes toward organ donation are generally favorable among future healthcare professionals, significant knowledge gaps and systemic barriers persist. Interventions should focus on educational programs, legal reform, trust-building, and supportive policies to foster a sustainable culture of donation.
Keywords: Organ Transplantation, Tissue and Organ Procurement, Living Donors, Health Knowledge, attitudes, Practice, Health care disparities
Received: 23 Aug 2025; Accepted: 24 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Arizmendi-Villarreal, Ugalde-Flores, Sanchez-Maldonado, Flores-Mendoza, Zapata-Chavira, Muñoz-Maldonado, Perez-Rodriguez and Reyna-Sepulveda. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Francisco Javier Reyna-Sepulveda, francisco.reynas@uanl.edu.mx
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