Brain Death Versus Irreversible Cardiac Arrest—The Background and Consequences of Young People's Opinions on Stating Death in Polish Transplantology

Knowledge and awareness of brain death among Saudi population

“…Further tests must be used if apnea testing cannot be completed, including cerebral angiogram, Tc-hexamethylpropylene amine oxime single-photon emission computed tomography )HMPAO SPECT(, electroencephalography )EEG(, and transcranial doppler ultrasound )TCD(. Furthermore, within the questionnaire, we used concepts of brain death derived from studies by Yousefi et al, 2 and Nowaka et al 3,10 Questionnaire scoring. To measure awareness, we asked 8 questions derived from items in the GCS, FOUR score and AAN guideline.…”

A scoping review of the perceptions of death in the context of organ donation and transplantation

“…In Brazil, Teixeira et al [ 12 ] found that 77% of hospital patients interviewed did not think of brain death as death, and there was no statistical correlation between respondents’ education and their understanding of brain death. As in Nowak’s study of Polish students [ 34 ], high levels of mistrust in the diagnosis of brain death was also found. 26.5% did not trust and 55.1% partially trusted the diagnosis of brain death.…”

“…37% were neutral and 14% disagreed that 5 min of unresponsiveness, apnoea and asystole are sufficient to pronounce death after withdrawing life support therapy Mikla et al Poland 2015 [ 11 ] To analyze the knowledge and acceptance of the brain death (BD) concept among nursing students (n = 369) knew the concept of BD and considered it to mean a person’s death. Of the rest, 19% (n = 93) did not know it, and the remaining 6% (n = 30) believed that it did not mean that a person was dead Nair-Collins et al USA 2015 [ 49 ] To evaluate the public’s opinion about organ removal if explicitly described as causing the death of a donor in irreversible apneic coma 19–38% of people willing to donate their organs after death were either unsure or unwilling to donate their organs in the circumstance of irreversible apneic coma with organ removal causing biological death Nasrollahzadeh et al Iran 2003 [ 27 ] To examine the critical items that influence nurse knowledge regarding the concept of brain death and attitudes toward cadaveric donor renal Tx 67% understood BD = death, but only 40% understood true concept and importance to BDD Nowak et al Poland 2014 [ 34 ] Assessed young people’s knowledge and attitudes towards determining death in transplantology and their impact on attitude toward organ transplantation 85% of medical students and 54% of nonmedical students considered BD as the death of a human being, and the majority of the remaining group was reluctant to form a final opinion about this statement rather than simply deny it Oo et al 2020 [ 61 ] Attitudes and knowledge of Malaysian ICU nurses regarding OD and BD, and relationship with sociodemographic attributes 12.1% of Malaysian HCW were not convinced or unsure of the clinical state called brain death Othman et al 2020 [ 38 ] International study comparing public opinion to BD vs DCDD 87.9% of participants exposed to the circulatory death vignette were certain that the patient was truly dead vs 84.1% in the group exposed to the brain death case vignette a small but significant difference (Cohen's d 0.176; p = 0:004 Public survey Canada 2005 [ 37 ] To survey the general public on awareness, attitudes and behaviours related to organ and tissue donation including the issue of donation after cardiac death 16% found the fact that surgery can start 5 min after heart stopping as unacceptable, 24 and 30% found the it unacceptable to perform procedures or administer medications to preserv...…”

“…In a study by Mikla et al [ 11 ] of 492 Polish nursing students, 75% accepted BD as death. Nowak et al [ 34 ] found that 85% of Polish medical students and 54% of non-medical students equated BD with death. Investigators also found high levels of mistrust of the diagnostic criteria for BD and for the skill and objectivity of doctors making the diagnosis.…”

Brazilian and Ecuadorian Social Media Users: A Study of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs Toward Organ Donation

“…Many people would be likely to donate if they knew about the benefit of organ donation instead of wasting it (Hyde & White, 2010); however, some still hold the belief that an intact body is essential to pass over into "the afterlife" (Alam, 2007). In Poland, due to misconceptions about brain death, the public did not have positive attitudes towards organ donation, as they were not willing to accept brain death as the death of a human being (Nowak et al, 2014).…”